Project title
Description of initiative
Older adults are referred by local healthcare professionals to the Reminiscence Officer and selfreferral is also possible. Referrers are given a referral leaflet about the project that includes information for participants. Potential participants are contacted by the Reminiscence Officer and offered an introduction and access to the Museum of Oxford’s ‘Memory Lane Group’ monthly meetings and other suitable museum services. The social prescribing scheme is linked to the Memory Lane reminiscence group that began in 2010 as an informal monthly meeting at the Museum of Oxford (or nearby museum and heritage locations) to reminisce about a chosen theme and enjoy company in a comfortable environment.
The Prescription for Reminiscence Project links into museum services across the Oxford Aspire Museums Partnership, a consortium of Oxford University Museums and Oxfordshire County Council Museums Service (and one of 16 Renaissance Major Partner Museum Services funded by ACE to support excellence and resilience within regional museums). Lead partners are the Museum of Oxford and Oxford Aspire; delivery partners are Oxford University Museums Outreach Service, the Ashmolean Museum, Pitt Rivers Museums, Oxford Museum of Natural History, Museum of the History of Science, Oxford Botanic Gardens and ‘Hands on Oxfordshire Heritage’ (Oxfordshire County Council Museum Service); referral partners are Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Guideposts Trust, Young Dementia UK and Oxfordshire County Council Dementia Advisors.
Further information on the initiative
Themes: Culture and...
Keywords
Target group
Cultural field
Timeframe
Sources of funding
Results, benefits, impact and lessons learnt
In terms of the first aim, the mixed-method approach used demonstrated some key benefits of participating in Memory Lane and sharing oral history.
The surveys and post-session focus groups validated the findings of the observations which recorded a great deal of engagement and enjoyment at
the sessions. The interviews allowed for the exploration of the participants’ feelings in more depth and they were clear that the sharing of history had
some specific benefits in terms of forging social connections with people of different ages and backgrounds. They found it interesting to hear other
perspectives about the same historical events, which in turn provided a common bond. Social connectedness is an important outcome of the Memory
Lane sessions as loneliness has been identified by older people’s groups, research and policy as an important issue in later life.