Exploring if past memories affect how people relate to their dementia
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring the impact of recalling a nostalgic memory in comparison to an ordinary memory on how people relate to their dementia and death anxieties
IRAS ID
241675
Contact name
Anna Altavilla
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bath
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 27 days
Research summary
Dementia can have a large psychological impact and can act as a threat on a person's identity and well-being. Recently researchers have been using findings from social psychological research as a way of understanding how people affected by dementia manage these threats. One such study demonstrated that recalling a nostalgic memory compared to a non-nostalgic memory increases psychological resources including self-esteem, social connectedness and meaning in life for people with dementia. Another study explored people with dementia's recall for dementia-related information. This study found that using nostalgia to increase psychological resources led to improvements in recall of threatening, dementia related statements without an increase in anxiety. This is important because there is evidence to suggest that people who have greater ability to acknowledge, be aware and engage with their dementia may have greater therapeutic outcomes. This study aims to extend this research through examining if people engaging in a nostalgic memory compared with an ordinary memory are able to acknowledge the threatening consequences of their dementia. This study also aims to find out if a nostalgic memory results in people feeling less threatened about dementia symptoms and less anxious about death. This will then create the basis to develop new post-diagnostic interventions to support people with dementia. Sixty people with either Alzheimer's disease, vascular or mixed dementia will be recruited from local NHS trusts. Half will be randomised to the intervention condition where they will be asked to recall a nostalgic memory and half to the control condition where they will be simply asked to recall a memory. The rest of the procedure is identical for both conditions and includes: questionnaires examining people's representations and adjustment to their dementia, how threatening they rate various dementia symptoms and a questionnaire regarding anxieties and concerns about death.
REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/WM/0257
Date of REC Opinion
4 Sep 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion