{"id":832,"date":"2014-02-13T09:48:40","date_gmt":"2014-02-13T09:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/keepingitpersonal\/?p=832"},"modified":"2017-05-18T10:55:10","modified_gmt":"2017-05-18T09:55:10","slug":"first-meeting-12th-february-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/keepingitpersonal\/2014\/02\/13\/first-meeting-12th-february-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting to know one another"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>Group members getting to know each other using reflective ‘mirrors’<\/p>\n For an overview of the approach we took in this project check out the Approach applied in KiP<\/a> page. This explains that the process we were working through was to learn, plan and do together.<\/p>\n This was the first meeting where the whole group got together. It was an opportunity to learn about each other and share our understanding of dementia. You can view our programme,<\/a> and our goals for the day were to:<\/p>\n We wanted people who didn’t know each other to start to connect about things we normally discuss with our friends. Normally, \u00a0these conversations take time to emerge. We wanted to ‘speed up the process’ a little.\u00a0 Inspired by life history work, and conscious that past memories can\u00a0be brighter for people living with dementia we asked people to talk about: where they were born, their favourite things, a song, actor\u00a0or the teacher they liked best at school, as well as happy\u00a0experiences such as their favourite holiday.<\/p>\n To support this conversation we created large handheld ‘mirrors’ with space to insert A4 sheets of paper so people could write down other people’s answers. This visual ‘reflection’ can help people learn about each other and see who they are. Having a biography of important information about someone’s life can be important as their memory fails. Making it possible for others to develop\u00a0individual relationships with them and provide personalised care. For more information on this kind of approach the Alzheimer Society has put together a ‘Remembering together’<\/a> leaflet.<\/p>\n We\u00a0also asked the group to create a working together agreement and gave them a suggested version to help start this activity. This is the Working Together Agreement<\/a>\u00a0they\u00a0produced and we typed up afterwards so we could use it at each meeting.<\/p>\n To support group members to communicate effectively during and between meetings, \u00a0we drew out of the working together agreement that people would like others to:<\/p>\n We also watched a film about communication, and proposed a \u2018parking lot’ for words the group considered might get in the way of effective communication.<\/p>\n\n
Connecting up<\/h4>\n
Working together agreement<\/h4>\n
Communication<\/h4>\n
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