Memory box initiative launched for people with dementia
Alzheimer's Society has partnered with Boots to produce boxes filled with everyday items like soap and perfume to make memories.
Alzheimer's Society and health and beauty retailer Boots have launched an initiative to help people with dementia.
Over 1,000 multi-sensory memory boxes have been created which are being distributed to care homes across the UK.
The memory boxes are designed to stimulate conversation and rekindle memories using the power of scent, touch, and familiar objects.
Each box contains a collection of donated objects, and everyday health and beauty products known for their distinctive scents and textures — from vintage bath salts and soap bars to old powder compacts and cough medicine.
Alzheimer's Society estimates there are 982,000 people with dementia in the UK, but more than a third of people with the condition do not have a diagnosis.
This number is projected to rise to 1.4 million people living with dementia by 2040.
The initiative follows research by University of Surrey Professor of Behavioural Science Victoria Tischler which explores the connection between smell, handling familiar objects and memory.
Professor Tischler says people with dementia will have a multi-sensory experience with the memory boxes.
"With the memory boxes, we're stimulating more than one sense at the same time and that gets the brain really activated.
"When smells enter through our nostrils they bypass lots of different parts of the brain and go directly to parts of the brain that are responsible for things like food and memory.
"If you smell something you can have a very visceral response that can take you back to childhood. Maybe a favourite food that your mother used to make for you or the perfume that your grandma used to wear and that's why it's such a powerful sense."
The initiative comes ahead of Dementia Action Week which takes place from 19-25 May.
It's hoped that more projects will be offered in the future to support the health and wellbeing of people living with dementia.