Colouring books for adults have become popular for reducing stress but now there is a new version on the market to help families connect with their older loved ones who have dementia.
Created by Coquitlam duo Karen Tyrell, a dementia consultant, and Rose Kapp, an illustrator, Home Life Memories is a creative way to keep the conversation going during visits with friends or family members who are struggling with short-term memory loss.
"When families go visit, they don't know what to say, they don't know what to do," said Tyrell, who said she and Kapp came up with the idea of a colouring book when they shared contact information at a meeting of the Valley Women's Network, an organization for professional women.
The two had seen the popularity of adult colouring books and decided to share their knowledge and artistic skills in a book that would prompt reminiscences about home and life memories.
Just released this month, the colouring book has large but simply rendered drawings of common household items, such as ornamental tea cups or a garden swing, that family and friends can colour together while talking about the memories these pictures bring up.
"If any family members go back and reminisce, they'd find the old memories are still there and they would have more connectedness with that person," Tyrell said.
Each drawing has a song to go along with it that the family member or caregiver can start to sing to see if it can spark even more happy memories.
Tyrell said music is retained in the brain and can be another way for families to connect.
"I used to sing 'You are my Sunshine,'" Tyrell says of her work in recreation therapy, "and you'd see their eyes light up."
There are also trivia questions and simple exercises in the book to help stimulate the brain.
"They feel good about themselves when they complete it," Tyrell said, adding "Families might be surprised at how much they know."
If the book helps make those awkward visits more comfortable, Tyrell will have achieved her goal.
"The feedback so far has just warmed my heart. This is what I wanted, it works."
• Home Life Memories is available at Chapters at Pinetree Village in Coquitlam and can be ordered at any book store as well as at www.amazon.ca.
