Diary of a Care Worker: Dementia and Confabulation

I had just started out as a care worker, but the following story has stayed with me throughout the years as a warning never to make assumptions!

After a night of Googling, printing and cutting out pictures of a particular vintage car, I was quite pleased with myself. I had grabbed my new role as a personal care assistant with both hands, and was loving it. That day, I had found a nugget of new information from one of our lovely clients, James – a client with dementia; and I was excited to share the pictures with him.

Nurturing the Memory …

He had told me he used to own a very old vintage racing car, and described, with loving detail, the fenders on the side, the convertible roof, the outside spare wheel, and how he would pick up his girlfriend – later to be his wife – for a night out on the town. James was in his late 90’s and was lovingly referred to as a ‘cheeky chappie’ – always up for a little banter, but I hadn’t heard him speak of this car before, so I was naturally keen to nurture the memory.

I came in that morning, put the pictures in the photobook that a few of us had made as a visual aid, and made him a cup of tea. As he leafed through the pictures, he told me more stories of his adventures with this vintage vehicle, his wife of 60 years, and the fun times they had when they were courting.

Soon after, his wife returned from a grocery shop. She saw the photobook open on the table, displaying the pictures of this mean 1920’s dream machine.

“Why are these in here?”

I told her of our chat the day before, and how he had described days out with her on picnics, picking her up for nights in the dance hall, and driving through the countryside together in this wonderful car. 

She turned to me, with a hint of a wry smile.

“I think he’s talking about the car from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, dear’.

Note to Self (and other care workers:)

Dementia can cause memories of people and places to become fuzzy, so the brain attempts to fill in gaps with relevant or similar memories. This can lead to false memories (confabulation), perhaps of well-learned facts or strong images from movies or books. It can be hard to strike a balance between ‘going along’ with what you suspect are false memories, and supporting them to find the ‘right memory’. But it’s all part of the learning curve as a care worker …with some steeper than others!

Strike a chord? Work and train with us! Social Care Alba is hiring.

Need Dementia support or to learn more visit Alzheimer Scotland or Dementia UK