Memory Joggers is now on JADCOM Media!
Thank you all for your feedback! You kept telling me you wanted an easier way to know when new Memory Jogger editions were available. Now, you can have a new set of 20 Memory Joggers emailed to you each week!
Keep reading for how they have been improved with a short history or background on the phrase and three suggested questions you might use for Guided Reminiscence!
If you are new to Memory Joggers, it is a fun, engaging activity to enjoy with a loved one with early memory loss. Each one is a common phrase to read aloud, asking the player to provide the last word to complete it.
Whether you care for a loved one living with early mild cognitive impairment or any of the dementias, you know first hand the gradual decline in mental acuity. From occasional forgetfulness to frequent disorientation – you’ve seen it all.
Declining mental acuity: challenging for everyone? Of course. Is it possible to help those with memory loss put up a fight? Absolutely!
There’s light at the end of the…
The goal is to engage your person with memory decline to search the memory banks for the word “TUNNEL!”
Read on to see how you can get 20 Memory Joggers emailed to you each week!
How Does Recall Work?
Science tells us recalling trivia or having our memories “jogged” reassembles fragments of recollections stored in multiple parts of the brain. Recalling a memory is like assembling the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. During memory recall, we replay the neural activity that was originally generated in the brain when that event occurred.
When our brains are done with that bit of recall, we put it back into memory, thereby strengthening it for the next recall! You can learn more about the science from The Human Memory.
We’ve all had those moments:
- A certain taste takes us back to our childhood.
- That song we haven’t heard in years and it reminds us about the elementary school dance.
- Trying to come up with that actor’s name in that movie you love, and how good it feels when you finally “GET IT!”
Trivia Spans Generations
Jeopardy originally aired in 1964. 1964! While it was off the air from 1975 to 1984, it’s been on the air ever since. Even the Jeopardy theme music gets hummed in our household when we are teasing a family member about how long something is taking!
Why is trivia fun? It’s challenging, competitive, and as we’ve already learned, recalling information is healthy!
How Memory Joggers Works
Each weekly email contains 20 Memory Joggers. The phrases are provided, leaving just the last word to be recalled. The reason for just one word is due to the wide range of cognitive challenges people face.
For each Memory Jogger, there is a brief description about the meaning, origin, or how the phrase might be used. Some people use the description in such a way to “introduce” the Memory Joggers. It can give some preliminary context to what participants are about to hear and can help improve engagement.
Then, three suggested questions are provided to help you probe a bit deeper to take fun recall to deeply beneficial guided reminiscence. Use these as a starting point and add more if you wish. Most importantly, if the reminiscence takes a turn away from the topic, follow it with modified versions of the questions.
Use these questions – and add your own – to keep the travel “down Memory Lane” moving ahead.
Each email is designed to allow you to use it from your phone, tablet, or computer. Simply scroll through the questions.
For those of you who like to have a printed copy instead, there is a link in each email to a specially-formatted PDF for you to print.
All 20 Memory Joggers, the origin stories, and the proposed questions are carefully formatted to fit on four pages. That’s two sheets of paper, printed back-to-back.
Whatever your needs… You’re covered!
Fun New Game
Introduce it as a “fun new game” the two of you (or group!) can play. Simply read the phrase and wait patiently and quietly for them to consider and respond.
If you happen to be working with a person or group with a higher cognition level, prompt them with fewer words, asking them to complete more of the phrase. You may not need to not read the description first.
Another option is to speak the prompting words at the beginning of the phrase slowly, allowing them to complete it as soon as it comes to them and shout it out.
Competition could be a good thing – in certain group conditions!
A penny saved is a penny…
How Do I Get Memory Joggers?
It’s simple. Subscribe here to get a new volume of 20 Memory Joggers emailed to each week. You can use them all on the day you receive the email, or space them out a do a few each day. It’s up to you!
What Does Memory Joggers Cost?
Memory Joggers is only $5.95 per month. Once subscribed, your credit card will be charged automatically each month. You can cancel at any time and everything will stop immediately.
The best thing since…
Memory Joggers isn’t sliced bread, but it may become your favorite engagement activity!
Get Yours Today!
It just takes a minute to get started. Your first 20 Memory Joggers will be sent to you right away, and then again every 7 days.
For Our International Friends
It is understood the phrases contained in Memory Joggers are mostly U.S.-centric. However, it is great to have friends and followers from all around the world.
Please feel free to use Memory Joggers to any extent possible. Then, use them to get creative and add your own phrases appropriate for you in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and beyond. The phrases will be different, but the benefits are the same!
Send Us Yours!
Speaking of future volumes, you can help us help you! We have many, MANY Memory Joggers ready to send you, but we absolutely don’t have them all. Think about the phrases you and your parents and your grandparents used to say. Please send them in to be added to future volumes.
Everyone contributes; everyone benefits.
Enjoy Memory Joggers! The hope is that you will have as much fun and beneficial experiences using them, as was enjoyed when gathering them!
My very best to you and your families!
Dave Wiederrich
JADCOM Media LLC
