Story Telling for Seniors
by Michelle Kicherer of www.BananaPitch.com
What’s the benefit of story telling for seniors? Ever sit down with the aging adults in your life and ask them to tell you a story?
For some people, this art comes naturally: they can conjure up interesting images in their minds right away, and convey stories from their youth, their younger adulthoods, the times they grew up in…there’s so much to learn from the older generations!
Stories are often a way to pass down family traditions, secrets, to keep people connected and to keep older adults minds active and healthy.
For some elderly folks, getting started telling a story can be quite difficult and it may take a few questions to get the stories going. For these folks, you could try asking them one question, and that might get the ball rolling. For example, “Can you tell me about the first house you lived in?”
Sometimes, the older adult might need multiple questions in a row to get a story in their mind. For example, “Did you have a pet growing up? Oh really, a dog? What was it’s name? What kind was it? Would you take it places? What would it do when it jumped into the back seat? Do you remember a specific trip you took it on?” A simple series of questions like that can really get a story going.
For those with dementia, sometimes it is helpful to turn on music from the time period in which your older adult grew up. Music is a trigger for memory and language. Who knows what putting on some tunes can do for a good conversation and story exchange. And if the older adult with dementia does not have the ability to tell a story, encourage them to stay as engaged as possible. React to what they say with positivity and encouragement. Or you can always tell them a story!
Story telling is a great way to inform us about the previous generation as a whole; to keep us connected to the older adults in our lives on a more personal level; and to trigger memory and responses for our older adults. All of these things keep minds active and hearts happy. Story telling can be very fulfilling, either as a pair or in a group. Stay tuned for ideas on group story telling activities!