Time Traveling with Dementia: RemPods

Do you ever wish you could travel back in time to your parent or grandparent’s 1950s style living room or take a stroll through a vintage corner store? Some of our most vivid memories are those from our earlier years, and for many individuals suffering from dementia, those memories are among the few they have left.

Richard Ernest, an entrepreneur from the UK, developed an innovative way to arouse certain feelings and memories in dementia patients: RemPods.

Reminiscent Pods (RemPods) are portable rooms designed to recreate scenes from a particular era, such as pubs, cinemas, and dance halls. These pods, which are present in nearly 400 care homes and 50 hospitals, help patients feel more comfortable in their surroundings, “turning clinical care space into a therapeutic and calming environment.”

The rooms stimulate the minds of those suffering from the early stages of dementia and help caregivers create meaningful activities. Because Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia tend to affect short-term memory functions before long-term, old television programs, music and front-page stories from past newspapers serve as powerful memory stimulants and great ways for caregivers to initiate conversation and interact with patients.

If you could design your own, what would it look like? Leave a comment below!

Jillian Miller BSN, RN

Director of Nursing at Sonas Home Health Care

This blog was reviewed by Jillian Miller BSN, RN — Director of Nursing for Sonas Home Health Care’s Tampa Bay market — for clinical accuracy. Jillian Miller has been a nurse for 16 years — working primarily in pediatrics. She believes the best part of working with the pediatric population is when you see smiles from clients when you first enter the room. She loves seeing the difference you can make in families’ lives while providing the best care possible for them.