Let’s imagine that you have dementia. What would you miss? What would you forget about that you enjoy? We all forget the details of our lives and often take the little things we enjoy for granted. People living with dementia can rarely seek out enjoyable activities independently and often even forget what used to bring them pleasure. That is unless memory is triggered. Knowing that, how might you activate pleasure linked to past experiences?

Touch. Imagine not being touched. Imagine for a whole day no one touches you in any way.   Imagine no one shakes your hand, pats your arm, gives you a hug, or clasps your shoulder. Now imagine that for a whole week, a month, a year.

People of advanced age can experience this lack of touch – the children are grown and may live far away and their partner may have died. People living with dementia are especially prone to physical contact deprivation leading to a feeling of isolation and depression and ofttimes agitation with them selves due to frustration and apathy.