What might be positive about reminiscing about the past in later life, and what could be
negative?
Remeniscence is 'a story told about past event remembered by the narrator". (The Oxford Dictionary,
2010). Reminiscence can be a positive experience in later life for individuals, especially those with
Dementia. When someone has Dementia, relationships with family and friends often fade over time
and reminiscing about past events and looking at old photographs will help maintain these
relationships for longer. Reminiscence is used a lot on care settings alongside other enaging
activites such as bingo, coffee groups, dance classes and quizzes. These type of activities can help a
person remember who they are and can improve a person's overall wellbeing.
Reminiscence is not always a good experience though. For example, for someone who served in a
war and lost comrades, remembering these events can lead to breakdowns or anxiety. It can also
trigger feelings of extreme anger, grief or even guilt for surviving when others lost their lives. This
can cause the person to avoid engaging in reminiscence activities because of the fear of those
feelings. Avoiding such activities can also make a person lose sense of themselves.
Practitioners can make reminiscence a beneficial experience. Sharing memories in a group of
people who experienced the same can be enjoyable and may trigger more stories to be remembered.
Getting support from a group of people who have a shared experience can be helpful and lessen the
trauma of remembering. In this type of group, a person can access practical support for the
traumatising side of reminiscence as well as remember and share memories and experiences with
other people who had experienced similar situations. In conclusion, although this is by no means a
cure for severe feelings of trauma, it may give the person access to help with the short-term and
eventual long-term healing process which will allow them to cope.
How might social exclusion affect some people's use of care services?
Social exclusion is 'A person's 'lack of resources, rights, goods and services, and the inability to
participate in the normal relationships and activities, available to the majority of people in a
society'. Socially excluded people are often referred to as 'disadvantaged'.
There are many reasons as to why someone may be socially excluded. The main reasons for this
include low self-esteem or confidence, feelings of awkwardness, intimidation or discomfort and
difficulty interacting with staff due to language barriers or low levels of education.
Low self-esteem and/or confidence is an issue because getting out into the community or asking for
help requires a certain amount of confidence. If a person lacks confidence in themselves then
stepping into a doctor's surgery will be a daunting and worrying task. They will be too scared or shy
to access care services.
This also leads onto another reason: feelings of awkwardness, intimidation or discomfort. There are
a number of reasons that a person may feel this way but low confidence is the fundamental cause. If
someone knows that putting themselves in a situation is going to cause them one or more of these
feelings, they will tend to attempt to avoid it. These feelings often make it difficult for someone to
ask for help.
If someone has low levels of education, they may feel second-class or not as important as people
who have a good standard of education. This may also cause problems filling in any paperwork
required in order to access services. If there is a language barrier between the service user and the
professional, the person may feel afraid or feel like there is no point in accessing services because
no one will understand their needs.
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