Help Guide – Text
Remember that for this pilot, you will get any advice and help you need when building your Book of You from your training sessions. If you have any questions, you can email info@bookofyou.co.uk or phone 07719 839797 or 07718 996852 and if we are not available straightaway, we promise to get back to you as soon as we can. Remember to leave your name and telephone number if you need one of us to call back.
Before you begin, we will explain the meanings behind some of the terms and phrases you will come across.
Editor – This is usually the person who first comes up with the idea of creating the Book of You in the first place. You can create your own pages and upload words, pictures, music or film. You will be responsible for inviting other family members or friends to view or contribute and will decide in which order all the ‘pages’ will appear.
Contributors – The people the Editor invites to participate in or contribute to the Book of You. You could be a friend, family member or carer. You may have your own stories to share of the person (for example a day out with a group from a care home) and you can share this moment with family members who might not otherwise have seen it.
Page/Template – Although the Book of You is online, it still works like a real book. Each template can be thought of as a page and will contain a memory in the form of words, pictures, music and film or a combination of any of these. There are several different page/template styles to choose from so you can play around with different ones and see which work best.
Media – Photographs, images, film, audio (eg mp3) or YouTube videos. Book of You is a multi-media book and any of the above can be used within your particular story. You can even use just one type – for example if your loved one gets pleasure from music, you could upload music to accompany family pictures or YouTube film of a favourite singer. Within your training sessions, we will explain how you can source particular media and also how to upload it to Book of You.
Reminiscence Therapy – Reminiscence therapy involves the discussion of past activities and experiences with another person or group of people. This is often assisted with aids such as videos, pictures, archives and music.
Person-Centred Care – The Alzheimer’s Society say that a good care home will follow the principles of person-centred care. This approach aims to see the person with dementia as an individual, rather than focusing on their illness or on abilities they may have lost. Instead of treating the person as a collection of symptoms and behaviours to be controlled, person-centred care considers the whole person, taking into account each individual’s unique qualities, abilities, interests, preferences and needs. Person-centred care also means treating residents with dementia with dignity and respect.