Learn about 'Memory Box' kits at special events in November
Published on November 04, 2021
The Fort Worth Public Library is offering Memory Box kits – containers filled with items meant to help spark remembrances and conversations with people with reduced memory – for checkout to take home from five library locations.
The kits are packed with items relating to an interest or career, including themes focusing on beauty, games, gardening, handyman and sports activities. Seeing and touching the various items in the boxes can rekindle memories and inspire conservations, with the experience meant to be an enriching one for all who use them.
For example, the handyman kit contains 29 pieces ranging from safety goggles, work gloves, a rubber mallet and a paint brush to a model-plane kit and a jar containing nuts and bolts. The cooking-themed kit has 19 pieces that range from culinary tools (cookie cutters, pot holders, muffin tin, potato masher) to ingredients (sprinkles, pumpkin spice) and also scented candles to help spark memories.
The Memory Boxes were developed with guidance from the James L. West Center for Dementia Care and funded by the Junior League of Fort Worth.
There are in-person workshops this month to help caregivers and loved ones make the most of the Memory Box kits. The sessions will be led by experts from the James L. West Center:
As part of its commitment to serving all residents in the city, all Fort Worth Public Library locations are certified as Age- and Dementia-Friendly. Spaces are designed to be welcoming, and employees have been trained on ways to identify and assist visitors who are elderly or may have dementia.