Sporting Memories using the power of reminiscence to recall good times and reconnect with community

Description

Sporting Memories is an awareness and support programme involving remembering and talking about sports to help improve health and wellbeing, especially of people living with Dementia.
This programme aims to tackle Dementia, depression, and loneliness through safe, friendly sessions, led by people with a passion for sport and a desire to help people with Dementia and their Family Carer to stay engaged in their communities.
Sporting Memories brings people together to reminisce about their lives through the medium of sport, using images, video, and other tools to spark memories and encourage social engagement.
Sport plays a big part in the lives of so many people. Whether a person played a sport in their youth or later life, was a member of a local club, or watched and listened to matches and games, sport creates a sense of identity and a set of memories that can last a lifetime. By using sporting cues, it is possible to stimulate memory, improve communication and social skills among members as well as creating a sense of belonging within a local community.
Reminiscence is very powerful for people living with dementia . Typically, a person with dementia is more able to recall things from many years ago than recent memories, so reminiscence draws on this strength. Reminiscence can give people with dementia a sense of competence and confidence through using a skill they still have. We all possess memories, we all have our own unique life history. Recalling the past is a means of owning it and hence preserving ourselves.
Many people with dementia find themselves routinely having things done ‘for’ them or ‘to’ them. When a person shares something about their past and another person shows interest or enjoyment, it is a wonderful opportunity for that person to feel that they are the one who is giving something to another human being, rather than always being the one who is receiving or listening.
There are 64,000 people with dementia in Ireland, and the number of people with the condition will double in the next 25 years to over 150,000 by 2045. There are 11,000 new cases of dementia in Ireland each year – that’s at least 30 people every day. 63% of people living with dementia live at home in the community. There is currently no cure. Dementia is not simply a health issue but a social issue that requires a community response and sporting memories is one such community response.
The Alzheimer Society of Ireland rolls out the Sporting Memories Programme by working in close collaboration with various agencies in each are – the local sporting bodies GAA etc, Local county Councils, HSE, Slaintecare Healthy Communities, Sports Partnerships and essentially all local voluntary and statutory agencies that work with Older persons.
On February the 5th a very successful Sporting Memories event was held in Wexford. The Alzheimer Society of Ireland worked in collaboration with Wexford County Council, Slaintecare Healthy Communities, Wexford Age Friendly, The Health and Well Being Committee of Wexford GAA and Wexford Age Friendly Ambassador Tony Dempsey to plan and deliver a very well attended event. Over 90 people, including approximately 30 people who were living with Dementia attended.
Another such event was held in Donegal on June 24th and this event also had a good attendance with over 50 people attending approximately 10 of which were living with Dementia.
On July 5th Na Fianna hosted a very well attended Sporting Memories event.
Following the county-wide events that are being organised local clubs and districts are encouraged and supported to hold their own localised events . Both these inaugural events set out a template that can be used and replicated across any local, county or national sporting organisation for similar events to engage older members of communities, in particular the harder-to-reach older men and people living with dementia.
The programme is currently being rolled out across the country and has even received enquiries from across Europe and further afield.

Aim of Initiative

This programme aims to tackle Dementia, depression, and loneliness through safe, friendly sessions, led by people with a passion for sport and a desire to help people with Dementia and their Family Carers to stay engaged in their communities. The power of reminiscence cannot be underestimated for bringing back joy into the lives of people living with Dementia. To watch people become so animated and engaged during these events is truly amazing – the joy of reminiscence is so clearly evident

Who is it aimed at

The initiative is primarily aimed at people living with Dementia and their family members and Carers however everyone is welcome to attend and we have had attendees of all ages. The programme is particularly appealing to older men who are generally harder to reach and are often hard to engage with as a group. The programme is not just focused on the sports stars of the past but is for everyone who ever had an interest in sport whether they were directly involved or were a fan. This programme can be adapted to any sport

3 Steps critical to success

1. The collaboration among various agencies is vital for the success of the programme and to ensure as many people as possible get the opportunity to participate. While the steering committee were as identified above the organisers collaborate with all agencies who work with older persons to ensure as many as possible know about the event
2. Good communication to ensure getting the word out about the programme. It is vital to ensure all media both print and radio in the area spread the word of the event. Local notices, newsletters, church notice boards, social media pages etc were used
3. It is important to get the logistics correct. Post covid the venue size is important to ensure people feel safe. Care is also taken when choosing venues to ensure good accessibility, lighting, ample provision of seating, display tables etc to allow ease of movement. Even the time of day is a consideration as some people living with Dementia get agitated in the evening time so that time is best avoided

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. Initially it was difficult to get bye in from the relevant agencies however after the success of the event in Wexford the concept has now been proven and the various agencies are keen to be involved.
2. Communicating to the target audience. There is a huge reliance on social media to promote events now but as many of our target audience may not engage with social media it was imperative to promote the event through suitable medium. An interview was done with local radio and a podcast of the details of the events was developed which went out right at news time morning midday and evening. The event was also promoted on local papers and each club in the county undertook to contact older people in their own communities about the event and indeed in some provide transport for them.
3. Post covid in February some people were still nervous about being out in crowds and in public spaces and this may have impacted on numbers. However by making people aware that we had selected large well ventilated venues we went some way to combat these fears.

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. People, who had not recently engaged in the GAA world or with the people they previously knew in that world, have now reconnected and in some cases have re-established those friendships to the point where they now regularly meet. Hence this programme has helped combat loneliness and isolation. Many clubs have come forward to host their own localised events increasing the opportunity for further social engagement.
2. Reminiscence is vitally important for people living with Dementia. With this event people were given the opportunity to see a significant amount of memorabilia, photos, press cuttings , match programmes, years and medals all of which are very powerful in stimulating memories. They were also given the opportunity to meet old friends and indeed heroes from the years gone by and were encouraged to chat and share stories bringing back some wonderful memories.
   One example was where a young gentleman brought along his Dad who is living with Dementia. The Dad hasn’t spoken or laughed in a couple of years yet while he was looking at one of the albums he spotted and old picture of himself from many years ago and started to laugh out loud.
3. At these events there is always information with regards to services and supports that are available to People living with Dementia. Some people are not lucky enough to be signposted to these supports and services when they receive their diagnosis so it is important that we add this component to these events . A number of people have been linked to services in this way. One gentleman 2 years post diagnosis was not aware of the extensive services available but has now happily been linked into many of them because he attended a sporting memories event.