The Use of Photographs & Pictures in Care

Just recently I have been providing a range of care services for a lady who has recently lost her husband, and has a disabled daughter in a care home.  The lady likes to show me photographs from the past, it may be her late husband walking the Labrador dog, or her daughter in the garden.  What strikes me about this is the diverse roles of a carer, and one role which you wouldn’t think of as a carers task is to sit and listen to people’s stories, and take an interest in their photographs.  The person wants to think about the past and the carer is simply someone to offload that information to.  Gradually I understood this role is important and can surprisingly require skills, asking questions, or clarifying something in a photograph etc really can had a positive effect on the customer.

Over the months I realised how powerful photographs can be, I guess they take older people back to a time when they were healthier, happier, had loved ones with them and perhaps were less lonely.  As we get older (myself included!) we look at the past with fond memories and tend to think the past was a nicer time than the present.  Whether this is really true I’m not sure!  Perhaps some things are better, others worse!  However, I have realised looking at old photographs cheers people up, it is a form of therapy and it is a carers job to listen, participate and show an interest.

If you or a loved on is looking for companionship why not give Amanda or Lilian a call during normal office hours 01257 696 050.