DementiaRoadmap

House of Memories is an award-winning training programme, run by the Museum of Liverpool, which targets the carers of people living with dementia. It provides participants with information about dementia and equips them with the practical skills and knowledge to facilitate a positive quality of life experience for people living with dementia.

House of Memories is centered on the fantastic objects, archives and stories at the Museum of Liverpool and is delivered with drama interpretation. The programme provides social care staff, health and housing staff, in domicile and residential settings, with the skills and resources they need to inform their practice and support people living with dementia.

House of Memories is about joining the dots that link us through our life experiences, our dreams and our shared histories. The programme demonstrates how a museum (or by association a library, arts centre, or theatre) can provide the health and social care sector with practical skills and knowledge to facilitate access to an untapped cultural resources; often within their locality.

The programme recognises that museums across the UK are expert at recording and caring for people’s memories – whether they are thousands of years old or within ‘living memory’. Great museums enable people to explore and connect their histories, to engage in relevant and meaningful cultural activity.

The video below introduces the House of Memories programme

House of Memories offers dementia awareness training for professionals, as well as buddy days for families, friends and volunteer carers. There are also a number of memory resources, activities and events. To get up to date news, sign up for the House of Memories e-newsletter.

The training programme is designed to be easy to use and informative, acknowledging the central role the carer can play. They can help unlock the memory that is waiting to be shared, and provide a stimulating and rewarding experience for the person living with dementia.

The programme provides participants (care workers, dementia champions, home care workers, agency support workers) with a variety of accessible practical experiences to:

• introduce basic knowledge about the various forms of dementia
• represent the challenge families face for people with early stage and progressive dementia
• introduce memory activity resources linked to the museum experience, which can also be used within care settings.

To extend the learning beyond the initial training experience, participants are also equipped with resources to take back into settings. These include:

• A memory suitcase – access to the museums object loan programme
• A memory toolkit – ‘how to guide’ for developing memory activity in settings.