Exploring Life Story Books in Dementia Care: the potential of digital reminiscence interventions

Reminiscence is about retrieving and sharing memories. It can be a promising method for people with dementia, as it can reduce depressive symptoms and improve their mental health, quality of life and cognitive functioning. Moreover, it can strengthen social relationships and support person-centered care. Creating a life story book is a specific form of reminiscence. The use of technology in life story book interventions can be supportive. This thesis describes an exploration of the use of (digital) life story books in dementia care, using a multi-method approach. Our systematic review shows that life story book interventions in dementia care can have multiple goals and that the use of technology in this area is still in its infancy. Our RCT on the intervention ''the Online Life Story Book'' (OLSB; Dutch: Online Levensalbum) shows small but non-significant effects on neuropsychiatric symptoms, caregiver burden and quality of life of the caregiver over time. The self-rated caregiver burden decreased significantly during the intervention. Our content analysis of eight created OLSBs shows that the created books are rich in both content and structure and fit the social function of reminiscence. In our process evaluation, stakeholders mention relevant points when it comes to the added value, implementation and use of technology within a life story book intervention in dementia care. The discussion integrates the studies and provides recommendations for future research and practice.