Encyclopedia of Geropsychology

Living Edition
| Editors: Nancy A. Pachana

Reminisce Interventions in Elderly People

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_260-2
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Synonyms

Autobiographical memories; Episodic memory; life review

Definition

Reminiscence is the intentional or spontaneous process of retrieving episodes personally lived in the past. This retrieval of autobiographical memories may or may not have a logic or sequence in terms of the topics recalled. Understanding and evaluation are not an integral part of reminiscence, which tends to be highly spontaneous and mostly unstructured. On one hand, reminiscence can be regarded as a spontaneous phenomenon emerging in different settings, which forms part of many social and family events, providing people with the opportunity to relate episodes and/or tell their life history. On the other hand, especially in older adults, reminiscence can be used as a therapeutic intervention strategy in different fields, such as a prevention strategy for mental disorders or a way to promote mental health. Reminiscing past events can help a person feel more confident and self-assured when dealing with the...

Keywords

Autobiographical Memory Neurocognitive Disorder Life Review Autobiographical Event Unresolved Conflict 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Psychology and EducationUniversity of Beira InteriorCovilhãPortugal
  2. 2.UNIFAI.ICBAS and CINTESISUniversity of PortoPortoPortugal
  3. 3.Department of Psychology, Faculty of MedicineUniversity of Castilla-La ManchaAlbaceteSpain