The International Journal of Reminiscence and Life Review
The International Journal of Reminiscence and Life Review (IJRLR) (ISSN 2372-1790) publishes original work exploring the nature, function, and application of remembering the personal past within a wide range of research contexts and practice settings.
The International Center for Life Story Innovations and Practice
Why Life Story Books Should Be Part of Every Nursing Home Admission
Moving into a nursing home is a major life transition that often leads to increased emotional stress, loss of identity, and increased mortality risk. Life Story Books (LSBs) provide a person-centered approach that help residents maintain identity, foster social connections, and support emotional and cognitive well-being. This paper reviews the process of creating LSBs and highlights their multiple benefits. LSBs enhance resident well-being by promoting reminiscence, increasing self-esteem, and reducing depressive symptoms. They provide cognitive stimulation and emotional engagement, help preserve memory function, and strengthen communication between residents, staff, and families. LSBs also improve continuity of care by offering staff deeper insights into each resident’s history and preferences, enabling more personalized and compassionate caregiving. Furthermore, they encourage family involvement and align with therapeutic practices such as reminiscence and life review, which have been shown to improve mood and quality of life in older adults. Incorporating LSBs into the nursing home admission process offers a simple yet powerful way to promote dignity, connection, and meaningful engagement, ultimately enhancing quality of care and quality of life for residents with and without dementia.
Life Review in Midlife: An Integrative Review
Life review was developed to assist older adults to think back over their lives in a therapeutic way to improve their mental health, wellbeing, and quality of life. However, an important part of midlife is to review one’s past to prepare for one’s future. A life review in midlife might assist with this. The aims of this integrative review were to identify 1) the extent to which life review and life review therapy in midlife adults have been researched, and 2) the benefits and limitations of these interventions for midlife adults. The following databases were searched: CINAHL, Medline, PsychInfo, Embase, Scopus, Google Scholar and Trove. Forty-four articles were included in the results, and three themes were developed. Theme 1, End of Life in Midlife was a topic explored in 23 papers. Theme 2, Mental Illness and Substance Abuse, was identified in 20 papers: nine addressed mental illness, one described the application of life review to substance abuse, and 10 overlapped with Theme 1 on mental illness and end-of-life. Theme 3, Personal Growth was the primary topic of 11 papers. Life review can assist with reducing anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses. Results from these studies showed how life review potentially reduces psychological distress and despair, addresses unsolved conflicts and regrets, and puts guilt into perspective. It potentially improves psychological wellbeing, creates hope, aids in personal growth, creates wisdom, and assists in the gaining of valuable insights through the lessons learnt. The psychological and psychospiritual wellbeing benefits of life review in midlife adults therefore are strongly supported in the literature. In essence, life review assists in creating a life with meaning and purpose, resolves regrets, and results in increased psychological wellbeing, life mastery and, ultimately, wisdom.
Copyright (c) 2025 Xanthe Lea, Peter Brown, Susan Gallagher
The Power of Memoirs on the Journey Toward Recovery
People share and listen to stories of illness, trauma, and recovery as a powerful source of healing. Memoirs reflect the intimate, emotional, and personal insights of the wounded storyteller based on their experience of illness and recovery, for sharing with others. Because memoirs are in written form, they also offer the opportunity for readers to learn from them in perpetuity. The present study examines the content of memoirs based on experiences of survivors of stroke, the majority of whom also have aphasia, a stroke-induced communication disorder. Over fifty memoirs of survivors of stroke were assembled for analysis, representing authors from twelve different nationalities, with balanced proportions of male and female authors. A set of representative quotes and content extracted from the memoirs illustrate three main themes. One theme was the threat to one’s identity following the traumatic onset of stroke and aphasia, and how one rises to that challenge. A second theme was how to achieve acceptance, including acceptance of one’s new life and post-stroke identity. A third theme centered on gratitude for survival and providing lessons for others on how one can cope and recover, as one expression of that gratitude. Findings hold implications for the potential universality of healing themes of identity reformulation, acceptance, and gratitude—across time, cultures, and genders—among survivors of illness and trauma.
Special Section: The Healing Power of Storytelling: Papers From the 2022 Meeting of the International Center for Life Story Innovations and Practice | Guest Editor: Juliette Shellman
Copyright (c) 2024 Hanna K. Ulatowska, Gloria S. Olness
How Our Society Can Benefit From Oral Narrative Practice
Touch in Times of Skin Hunger: With Captivating Stories From and for Young and Old (Els Messelis, 2021)
Copyright (c) 2024 Noelle Sant, Sima Ipakchian Askari
Guided Autobiography Groups With Turkish Older Adults: First Impressions
During the Covid-19 pandemic, because of the restrictions for people over 65, the Fresh-Distance Projects (Taze Mesafeli Projeler) was initiated online in order to continue the learning processes of 60+ Tazelenme University students and to reduce the negative effects brought on by social restrictions. Fresh Autobiography was one of the projects that was held during the period April 2021-June 2021 with two Guided Autobiography Groups (GAB) with older adults. After defining the themes to be used, an announcement was released within the social media groups of Tazelenme University Students with a poster and applications collected via a Google Forms document. At the end of the application process, two GAB Groups were formed: a Wednesday Group with four participants (three male; one female); and a Sunday Group with six participants (two male; four female). It was observed that participants found the GAB processs therapeutic, and it provided opportunities 1) to get to know each other, 2) for new subjects to talk with family members in their daily life, and 3) to gain new perspectives on their life experiences. Also, they requested to continue GAB groups with further themes. These findings parallel the GAB literature.
Social Engagement of Individuals Living With Dementia Through Shared Stories: A Program Evaluation
The use of Guided Autobiography (GAB) as a promising practice for individuals living with dementia was utilized with two groups of six individuals along with care providers over two, eight-week sessions. A qualitative program evaluation was conducted to determine the feasibility of offering the GAB class for program evaluation for individuals living with dementia. The evaluation was guided by a theoretical foundation utilizing Self-Determination Theory.
"Family is About Who Loves You." Exploring the Adoption Journey With Photos and Stories
Adoption has complex implications for individuals and families, involving questions about the unknown (Dexter Brown & Reavey, 2008), a sense of trauma or loss (Lambert, 2020), or seeking one’s identity (Tan & Jordan-Arthur, 2012). Few studies have used images to research the adoption phenomenon. This qualitative study used a photovoice approach to explore experiences and perspectives of people touched by adoption using photos and narratives. Through a Photo + Story online survey, 37 participants, including adoptees and parents, siblings, and grandparents of adopted children, uploaded an image of what adoption meant to them, along with a brief written narrative and demographic information. Seventeen of the participants additionally took part in one of four focus groups where they shared their photos, elaborated on their stories, and engaged in dialogue about common experiences. Photos and narratives underwent systematic visuo-textual analysis (Brown & Collins, 2021), subsequently integrated with a thematic analysis of the focus group transcripts. In total, 74 codes emerged across all data. Synthesis of the codes resulted in three main themes: 1) Identity (e.g., adopted vs. biological, race/ethnicity, belonging); 2) Journey (e.g., waiting, first encounter, questioning/searching, secrets); and 3) Making Sense (e.g., gratitude, whole/complete, acceptance). Participants’ perspectives varied based on adoption status (e.g., adoptee vs. adoptive parent). Overall, the rich integration of images, stories, and dialogue revealed ways adoptees and their families reconcile the unknown as well as the diverse and dynamic ways we construct and understand both individual and family identities.
Copyright (c) 2024 Michelle A. Cole, Christina B. Gunther, Robin L. Danzak
A Comparison of Lifelines Recalled by Older Adults and Anticipated by Younger Adults
The reminiscence bump effect is the tendency for older adults to recall more life events from their teens, twenties, and early thirties than from other decades of life. The purpose of this study was to compare patterns of life events recalled by older adults as they looked back at their past to life events anticipated by younger adults to occur in their future. Twenty-five older adults (mean age = 79.68 years, SD = 7.84) completed a lifeline by drawing the course of their life from birth to their current age, placing life events on the line, and indicating their age when each event occurred. Sixty-five younger adults (mean age = 18.88 years, SD = 0.82) completed a future-oriented lifeline by drawing the anticipated course of their life from their current age to the age of their anticipated death, placing anticipated life events on the line, and indicating their age when each event was expected to occur. Younger adults reported a significantly higher frequency of anticipated life events from the reminiscence bump period (58.60%) than did older adults recalling events from their past (35.29%). Younger adults anticipated a significantly higher percentage of negative life events (43.41%), compared to the percentage of those recalled by older adults (17.64%). Overall, the pattern of an anticipation bump for younger adults was similar to that of a reminiscence bump observed for older adults. Findings are consistent with a cultural life script account of the reminiscence bump.
Copyright (c) 2024 Brian A. Carle, Grace Flood, Thomas W. Pierce, Kathleen M. Arnold, Jeffery E. Aspelmeier, Jenessa C. Steele
Adapting the Structured Life Review for People Living With Dementia: Implementation With Unpaid Older Adult Caregivers
Little research has been conducted to designate an effective life review intervention that reduces caregiver burden and extends the physical and cognitive function of people living with dementia (PLWD). This paper reports on the re-design and implementation of an adapted structured life review intervention for caregivers to facilitate with PLWD. There were five phases in the planning and implementation of this modified intervention. These phases included a literature review, curriculum design and caregiver training, weekly life review sessions, weekly feasibility sessions, and an evaluation. In a pilot study, 19 dyads (PLWD and caregivers) were enrolled, and 17 dyads completed the re-designed life review intervention. The caregivers found that they wanted more time to learn about each other in the training class. Minimal assistance was needed during the fidelity sessions, which the caregivers completed on a weekly basis while they facilitated life reviews with their care recipients over six weeks. There were many positive outcomes to the re-designing of the structured life review; however, due to the small sample size, tests of statistical significance were not informative. Conducting this program with a larger sample size of PLWD and caregiver dyads is recommended.
Copyright (c) 2024 Cheryl Brohard, Yolanda Batz
Introduction to the Special Section: Papers of the 2022 Meeting of the International Center for Life Story Innovations and Practice
Feasibility of a Simplified Version of Guided Autobiography in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Pilot Study
This study developed a shortened version of guided autobiography (GAB), which consisted of four sessions in which participants wrote a weekly autobiographical essay and shared it with others. This intervention study aimed to help community-dwelling older adults find a meaningful life, and we tested its feasibility. In the final session, instead of an autobiographical essay, they created an autobiographical collage using photos and letters and shared it with others. Among those who participated in all sessions, ego integrity increased, and mental health tended to improve after the program. This study suggested that the shortened GAB can be feasible for positively accepting the self and finding meaning in life among Japanese older adults.
Copyright (c) 2024 Sachiko Yamazaki, Mayuko Ono, Chibo Shimada, Cullen T. Hayashida, Michiyo Tomioka, Hisao Osada, Tomoko Ikeuchi
Resilience, Re-silence, Repeat: The Past and Future of Pandemic Reminiscence
Surviving and Thriving Beyond Young Adulthood in India as a Queer Person: Perspectives from Personal Life Review and the Value of Story Telling
Re/composing Memories: Aging, Emotion, and Autobiographical Memory
Memory is an elusive and yet compelling concept. In this paper, we explore the narrative complexity of autobiographical memory, from Randall and McKim’s (2008) existing framework that outlines four overlapping angles: truth-wise, self-wise, time-wise, and other-wise. We seek to take up and extend each of these angles, or dimensions, aiming to bring them to life with empirical data - and we propose a fifth angle, emotion-wise, highlighting the affective nature of autobiographical memory. Based on participant observation, life history interviews, and the written memoirs of older adults who participated in (primarily) library-based writing groups in Southern Ontario, Canada, we employed narrative inquiry to investigate the process and activity of writing as a leisure practice. In our data, participants discuss their unconscious and/or deliberate blurring of fact (reality) versus imagination in their memory-based accounts. They reflect on their shifting conceptions of past, present, and future selves within the stories they tell as well as their recounted experiences of self-discovery and self-exploration. They also explore the role of others in shaping their stories and memories. Throughout, the influence of emotion is palpable. We posit that dynamic reminiscence, such as that represented by the crafting of memoirs within writing groups, enables the exploration of these dimensions of autobiographical memory. As such, the capacity of participants to engage in narrative practice is nurtured, and the greater is the concordant capacity for development, growth, (self-)wisdom in later life.
Copyright (c) 2022 Meridith Griffin, Kelsey Harvey
Motivational and Affective Themes in the Life Stories of Underserved Emerging Adults: A Pilot Study
Narrative identity is an internal and evolving life story, constructed in the interest of attaining purpose and personal persistence. Here, we report the results of a pilot study examining the narrative identities of a sample of underserved emerging adults (n = 19) currently receiving social services. Participants, the majority of which were ethnic minorities, provided five self-definitional autobiographical stories during a semi-structured life story interview. Stories were reliably quantified for agency (themes of self-mastery and competence), communion (themes of intimacy and connectedness), redemption (stories that began negatively and ended positively) and contamination (stories that began positively and ended negatively). Across two time points, agency was negatively associated with depressive symptoms, and redemption tended to be negatively associated with emotional dysregulation. Relations between narratives and psychological well-being were summarized via the illustration of four qualitative case summaries embodying these broader trends.
Copyright (c) 2022 The International Journal of Reminiscence and Life Review
Copyright (c) 2021 The International Journal of Reminiscence and Life Review
A Life Story from the Perspectives of Personality and Theology
Remember Me: Virtues in Self-Defining Memories Across Adulthood
Self-defining memories help one describe the self to others. Identifying virtue (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) in self-defining memories connotes reflection on the self as embodying valued human characteristics. Virtues may be differentially identified in self-defining memories about the current self and memorialized self in young (18–28 years), middle (40–50 years), and older (60–72 years) adulthood. In this study, younger and older participants (N = 202) were randomly assigned to recall a self-defining memory in a current-self or a memorialized-self condition. They rated their self-defining memory for demonstration of five specific virtues. Unlike middle-aged and older adults, young adults reported more virtue in the memorialized-self condition than the current-self condition at the overall virtue level and across most individual virtues. Prioritization of normative developmental tasks and awareness of time left in life for self-development may motivate current-self or memorialized-self condition differences in identification of virtue in young adults compared to middle-aged and older adults.
Exploring Time Perspective and Narrative Coherence Links Between Identity Styles and Flourishing
This study investigated the relationship between identity processing styles and psychological flourishing in relation to two under-examined variables in identity research, namely narrative awareness and a balanced time perspective. Participants (N = 205) ranged in age from 17 to 57 (M = 22.73, SD = 6.75) and completed the Identity Styles Inventory-5, Flourishing Scale, Awareness of Narrative Identity Questionnaire, and the modified Balanced Time Perspective Scale. Results indicated that the informational identity style was positively, and the diffused-avoidant identity style was negatively, correlated with flourishing. These associations were mediated by a balanced time perspective and narrative awareness. Results suggest that thinking about one’s past, present, and future in positive ways, as well as recognizing that identity can be adaptively construed in narrative terms, produce increases in psychological well-being over and above specific identity styles. Narrative awareness and time perspective, therefore, can provide novel insights in identity research.
Evoking Reminiscence in Nursing Home Residents with Indirect Cues
Reminiscing about the past can occur deliberately or spontaneously in response to either direct or indirect cues. The purpose of this study was to examine instances of reminiscence evoked by relatively indirect cues in interviews of older adult nursing home residents with varying levels of cognitive impairment and with young adults. Interview questions were based on structured themes drawn from models of functions of autobiographical memories (social/conversation, advice, historical reflection, identity). The interview offered opportunities for, but did not require, discussion of one’s autobiographical memories. Differences were examined between young and older adults in how often and when they reminisced as well as the content and qualities of their evoked memories. Results demonstrated more frequent indirectly-cued reminiscence by older adults than by young adults, with the greatest frequency of reminiscence occurring during a conversation task. Reminiscences tended to be direct responses to questions rather than tangential thoughts, contained more semantic than episodic content, and were more general than specific; however, specific reminiscences were indeed evoked. Based on these findings, we suggest that providing nursing home residents with opportunities to engage in casual conversations with specific yet indirect prompts may increase the frequency of reminiscence and provide an enhancement to more structured reminiscence activities and therapies.
Reminiscing on Learning and Teaching: "I Believe..."
Implementing Digital Life Story Work for People with Dementia: Relevance of Context to User Experience
The purpose of this study was to explore user experiences of three different implementations of digital LSW. Sixteen individuals, including people with dementia (n = 6), family caregivers (n = 6), and care staff (n = 4) working in a dementia care home took part. Participants were interviewed about their experience of learning to use a digital life storybook in one of three contexts: a community group; one-on-one sessions at home; or in a care home. People with dementia and family caregivers took part in weekly workshops for six weeks. Care staff received six weeks of training and were then encouraged to use digital life storybooks with residents. Thematic analyses of each dataset were carried out. Participants enjoyed the intervention, found it useful, and valued the ability to use multimedia stimuli in the digital life storybooks. Limited information and communication technology (ICT) skills was the most frequently cited barrier, and the digital life storybooks were used for some additional unanticipated, but useful purposes. Results of this work provide evidence for the feasibility and positive impact of a supported digital LSW intervention, and the use of digital life storybooks in three contexts. Results also provide useful insight and feedback for the future development and implementation of this approach in research and practice.
Copyright (c) 2020 Laura O' Philbin, Bob Woods, and Gill Windle
Writing Wisdom, Reviewing Identity: Positive Outcomes of Participating in a Memoir Course for Older Adults
Constructing a personal narrative and consolidating identity is an ongoing process that becomes pressing in the face of mortality. The current pilot study examined the process of life review in a sample of older people, specifically examining the effects of participation in a memoir course on wisdom, identity, and well-being. We hypothesized that wisdom, identity fidelity and coherence, and subjective well-being would increase for those in the memoir group compared to a control. Eighteen elderly individuals from two senior retirement communities were randomly assigned to participate in weekly classes, for four weeks, either to work on a memoir or discuss films (control group). After engaging in the process of organizing their life story and writing about important memories, the nine individuals in the memoir group scored significantly higher on self-report measures of wise reminiscence, identity fidelity, and subjective well-being compared to those in the control group. Furthermore, exploratory analyses found that wise reminiscence statistically mediated relationships between the memoir condition and the outcome measures of identity fidelity, identity coherence, and subjective well-being. These findings point to the benefits of memoir writing for positive aging as well as potential mechanisms underlying its effectiveness.
Copyright (c) 2020 Marissa A. Bivona, Patricia E. Kahlbaugh, and Christopher J. Budnick
Emotions are Salient in Prosocial Reminiscences
This study uses an incidental memory paradigm to examine processing of emotional information in three types of reminiscence (narrative, transmissive, and integrative). Better memory of emotional contents in prosocial reminiscences (transmissive and narrative) was expected on the basis of their hypothesized role in emotional regulation. Eighty-four participants between the ages of 20 and 85 (age groups: 20-44, 45-64, and 65-85 years) were randomly assigned to read one of three short stories exemplifying either an integrative, narrative, or transmissive reminiscence containing comparable amounts of emotional elements. As expected, participants assigned to reading the transmissive or narrative reminiscence recalled significantly more emotional elements than those having read the integrative story. This finding provides evidence for preferential processing of emotional information in transmissive and narrative reminiscences, which is in line with the putative role of these reminiscences in emotional regulation.
From the International Institute for Reminiscence and Life Review to the International Center for Life Story Innovations and Practice (ICLIP)
The International Center for Life Story Innovations and Practice (ICLIP)
Copyright (c) 2020 Juliette Shellman and Gerben J. Westerhof
Reminiscence as a Tool for Pedagogy in a Fashion Design and Merchandizing Curriculum
The use of reminiscence methodology, in the form of oral history or life story projects is not uncommon in higher education coursework. It provides students the experience of working with older adults and leaning about historical events. However, it might also be successfully used in other academic disciplines, particularly for providing students with the opportunity to apply course material to everyday environments. This article describes the development of a reminiscence project used in Fashion Design and Merchandising Courses. For this project, students applied Consumer Culture Theory to their interviews with older adults about people, places, social roles, and events around their clothing choices at various points of the lifespan. The pilot project demonstrated that dyadic reminiscence interviews around clothing-related reminiscence can be successfully applied to teaching Consumer Culture Theory. Further applications for use of this methodology are discussed.
Special Issue: Pedagogy in Reminiscence and Life Review
Copyright (c) 2019 The International Journal of Reminiscence and Life Review
Ethical Considerations for Student-Based Reminiscence Projects
In this paper we address ethical issues instructors should consider when designing reminiscence-based projects for student interviewers and older participants. We describe three basic ethical principles developed within the context of research with human subjects: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice (Belmont Report, 1979). We then discuss how these principles can be adapted for student-based reminiscence projects. Specific issues addressed include informed consent, confidentiality, and fairness in selecting participants.
Learning to Listen: Nursing Students Conducting Life Reviews with Older Adults
There is a growing need for geriatric nursing specialists. However, not enough nurses enter the specialty. This may be due to stereotypes about the elderly and believing that most live in long term care facilities. This paper describes the positive outcomes from using life review in a gerontology course in a baccalaureate nursing program. The life review had four objectives: 1) to gain a broad understanding of the elderly, 2) to describe the elder person’s uniqueness, 3) to learn about the experience of aging, and 4) to dispel myths and stereotypes of old age. Student outcomes of the project were very encouraging and included a positive feeling about aging;’, a changed image of older people, learning about history, family, and culture, new ways to communicate with the elderly; and positive feelings about geriatric care. The need and potential for life review in education is discussed.