Evaluating memory wallets in conversations with persons with dementia

The use of memory wallets to self-prompt factual information during prompted conversations with familiar partners was evaluated for 9 subjects with dementia. Memory wallets contained 30 pictures and sentences about familiar persons, places, and events that each participant had difficulty remembering. The amount of training by caregivers was the one component of the intervention package that varied among the nine attempts to replicate condition effects observed on introduction of the wallets. All subjects learned to use the memory wallets to improve their conversations by making more accurate factual statements. Even when caregiver training was not provided to 3 subjects, condition effects were still demonstrated, with only 1 subject requiring a brief orientation to his wallet. Long-term maintenance of condition effects was demonstrated for 3 subjects up to 30 months' postintervention. These results support the clinical utility of a memory wallet intervention package for persons with dementia and provide preliminary evidence that often little more than preparing memory wallets and providing a brief orientation are required to facilitate their use in improving conversations with familiar conversational partners.