The Dementia Memory Book

Useful tips when creating a photobook for someone with dementia, Alzheimer’s or memory loss in old age.

• The amount of content on each page should vary depending on what stage of the disease the person is in. Less is usually better than more. Too much makes it harder to concentrate on the content. 
• The level of detail should also vary. Early stage example: “James’s first day of kindergarten at St John’s junior school in Pietermaritzburg”. Middle Stage example: “James’s first day at St John’s school.” Late Stage example: “James loved school”.
• In the more advanced stages, only have one picture per page. If you are making your book for someone in an early stage and you want to include more photos, then try our Memory Book product. 
• Photos help to jog memories. But if you don't have a photo for an event, there may be a picture on the internet you can use (please make sure you have permission - see Help to find out more).
• Scan old photos at 600 dpi and also photograph them with a phone app, e.g. Google’s PhotoScan app, and select the better outcome.
• Consider writing information in the first person (My first day at school / I loved school).
• There are optional captions for the images. Include these where you feel some information about the image will be useful for carers when talking through the book with the person suffering from memory loss. Delete where they are not necessary. 
• It can be rewarding involving the person in the creation of their book, depending on whether they find this stressful e.g. choosing photos, asking about favourite memories etc.
• Consider including what is so special to you about them. Also consider including useful facts e.g. daily routine / what I like to eat. 
• Plan out which memories and life moments you want to include. It is probably best to do this in chronological order.
• The minimum book length includes 17 double pages of content (34 individual pages), an editable introduction page and the publisher's page. It works well if you include a topic per double page (spread), though you can include a topic per page. Spare pages can be used for photos, which can be added now or stuck in by hand later. You can add up to 6 more spreads.

Top Tips to avoid mistakes: 

• In every text field make sure you select all the placeholder text (cntrl +A works a treat) and delete it before you paste in or type in your own text. You can leave text fields blank. 
• Use word or another program with a spellcheck to generate all your text to avoid spelling errors or typos.
• Zoom in so you can see all text clearly. You get a better result if you use the + and – buttons on the top left of the screen rather than your keyboard Ctrl + or –