Material Citizenship

In 2024, we started to embed material citizenship into our care for people living with dementia. This was introduced through a series of workshops with staff to help them gain a good understanding about the importance of the concept. They quickly embraced the idea and began to identify everyday objects our residents’ value and interact with, whilst speaking with them and their families to learn more about the items and what they meant to them.

 

We recorded the objects within residents’ care plans, including their meaning, how the item was used, and when.  When we accessed potential new residents, we also discussed the concept of material citizenship with families to explore if there were any significant objects, and how we could support them to bring them into the Home.  

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Resident: Harry Brown*

We have a resident, Harry Brown, who has religious orders. His functional object is his bible and some photos that represent his family and faith. These objects are very important to him and his spiritual wellbeing. He likes to talk about his life, and when our Team Leader spoke with Harry, they were able to ascertain that these were important objects to him. During the assessment stage, we were able to explore how his faith may be represented in the object(s) he could bring with him when he came to live at our Home. 

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We used this information to create Harry’s care plan:

Staff should ensure the items are safe in Harry’s room. These items hold special meaning for Harry and bring back nice memories. Being able to look at items brings Harry comfort and a sense of connection to his family and faith. Building on this, the team asked Harry if he would be interested in holding small services. He said that he would and so the team set aside a quiet area. This seemed to go well, and we are now looking at supporting Harry to hold short, spiritual sessions with some of his former parishioners. We believe that by embedding Material Citizenship within our Home, it has enabled Harry to continue his spiritual journey.

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* Resident’s name has been changed to protect their privacy