This article was written by Jon Lale. The online memory book website he created is free to use and called Forget Me Not Book.

They say the best ideas are born out of personal experience and so it was with us. After an extremely severe stroke my active, caring, gutsy mother had to be looked after 24 hours a day in a care home.

Dysphasia robbed her of the ability to communicate at all which made it difficult not only for me to have meaningful visits with her but also tough for the staff to get to know her and be able to engage, (albeit in a one-sided conversation) with her on topics that would interest and stimulate her.

The frustration this caused me was extreme. I had an extensive family but none lived locally, some lived abroad and therefore although wishing to help, they found it difficult. So the idea of Forget Me Not Book was born, an online memory book which provides families the opportunity, wherever they live, to contribute their stories, reminiscences, anecdotes and photos about someone easily, safely and privately. The books build into a fantastic source of information that can be used to by visiting family members and staff alike to provide a spark, when necessary, for their engagement with loved ones. It is straightforward to have the content professionally printed in beautiful and lasting physical books, often a more  immediate and familiar thing for older people.

As we began to talk to care homes, many of the less forward thinking ones thought I was unusual in caring enough to do something like this for my mother. They thought the vast majority of people put their mothers or fathers in a home and largely forgot about them. Others couldn’t grasp the benefits that current technology offers to draw a wider group of  people into a collaborative approach to care, encouraging more frequent contact by them.

I don’t think I’m unusual, do you? That’s why it is fantastic to be working with organisations like Somerset Care who recognise the benefits of Forget Me Not Book for their residents but also understand how it’s use builds trust with families and opens a path for new developments to continually add quality to the care provided.