House of Memories: Connecting Communities through Digital Inclusion

House of Memories are committed to expanding their helpful resources to provide multilingual materials that support underserved communities.

Nusaibah Hasan, a researcher on the EMPOWER Network interviewed Dawn Carroll, one of our community partners who heads House of Memories. Read on to find out more about Dawn’s work.

Activities the organisation does that represents best practice in inclusive dementia care

House of Memories offers a range of museum-based memory activities, designed to meet people where they are in their dementia journey. This includes dementia-awareness workshops at the museum or online, things for people to do in the museum such as memory strolls, and things to support people at home, such as the My House of Memories app. This is free to download and includes content that it relevant to many different regions and communities.

For people who are unable to come to the museum, we also have outreach resources such as themed memory suitcases and ‘On The Road’, a mobile immersive cinema that goes into the heart of communities and care homes.

Why are these activities important for good practice and inclusive dementia care for the local community?

House of Memories is about the power of objects to connect people to each other, and to their own sense of identity. It is an approach that is adaptable to different geographical regions, cultural heritage and which can break down barriers by finding a friendly and inclusive way of raising awareness and addressing taboos.

We are committed to expanding our resources to provide multilingual materials that support underserved communities. We recognise that language can be a barrier, not only to accessing vital health information, but also to communication between generations within families.

Many of our resources are multi-sensory which can also support non-verbal relationships, whether that is due to differences in communication ability or languages. For example, our app contains content in Yemeni Arabic, Malay, Tamil, Chinese and Welsh.

What impact does your work have on people living with dementia and amplifying lived expert voices?

Quotes from those involved in the Memories of Yemen, My House of Memories app:

· “The memories of Yemen section on the My House of Memories app connects different generations through their shared cultural heritage and diverse community partners e.g. Al-Ghazali Centre (Multicultural community centre), Liverpool Arabic centre and the Kuumba Imani Millennium Centre (multifunctional convention centre).”

· “Elders responded really well to working with the museums and enjoyed the project as it was very close to them and something they can associate with.”

· “The Liverpool Yemeni Arab community are proud of this project.”

Quotes from Abdulwase Sufian (Inspired the memories of Yemen app):

· “When the elderly use the app and tap through different photos and see different memories, some become quite emotional, some become really happy, and some are able to remember so many other stories from their lives back in Yemen.”

· “The app is a saviour for many families and reconnects the elderly and youngsters.”

Quotes from Miriam Alhanshali (Community Project Leader):

· “Yemen community is proud of their heritage, both elders and young people alike, the artefacts and items presented on the app reflect every part of Yemen: the music, the arts, food, dance, reflect on all occasions.”

· “Intergenerational collaboration restored a gap between young people and the elderly community.”

What key factors have made your work and organisation successful?

One is to work in partnership, and as a museum, to get out and about and talk to people in health, social care and in the community about what the issues are and how we can help. Listening is important.

Another important point is to include people with lived experience, those living with dementia and their family members. Not only will you gain their insights, but you will also gain their support and advocacy, which is crucial.

Finally, to keep going and continue to innovate. Don’t be afraid to try new approaches and move with the changes to practice, policies and opportunity.

Any national expansion projects the organisation is planning to do on inclusive best practices in dementia care and future goals?

Yes, in the past we have worked with High Life Highland in Scotland and smaller museums in the region to create content from across the islands and highlands, ensuring that people in remote rural areas and coastlands could be supported through the app.

We have also done some focused work on LGBTQ+ collections and are now working on a project to explore diverse heritage in Wales.

The entire Welsh programme is bi-lingual (in Welsh and English) and specific to Welsh heritage and cultural references. We recently worked with 22 museums, with support from the Welsh Government, which enabled us to represent heritage from across the nation.

Future goals:

· To focus on joining forces with like-minded organisations, not only to spread awareness about our own work, but to continue to learn and keep up to date with innovative practices across the globe.

· Collaboration with the Empower Dementia Network+ shines a spotlight on the excellent work taking place, while also seeking to evidence and document what works. It is inspiring and hopefully will help drive advances for the dementia community, which can affect anyone and everyone.