New Online Portal from Living Memories Uses Digital Asset Management to Tackle Loneliness and Isolation.
Living Memories, a not-for-profit social enterprise, takes its service virtual using the intuitive digital asset management platform Imagen, to support patients with Dementia and Alzheimer’s tackle loneliness and isolation during the pandemic.
The Living Memories Online portal offers access to a huge range of information and social history programmes and newsreels, from the late 1930s to the 1970s, which can be watched on demand. It aims to bring the past to life for older people, the people who care for them and anyone interested in British social and industrial history, including
schools. Subscriptions to reminiscence resources with film summaries, questions, and social and historical information to trigger memories and discussions will also be made available.
Videos also include numerous programmes licensed from the archive of Greenpark Productions Ltd, established in 1938 by Walter Greenwood, author of “Love on the Dole”, as well as hundreds of programmes licensed from collections such as The Imperial War Museum, Beaulieu National Motor Museum, archival film supplier Screenocean and more.
Over 1,700 titles are currently available on Living Memories Online, with more being added each month.
The epidemic of loneliness and isolation existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and Living Memories’ community of members are some of the most vulnerable to the negative impact on both mental and physical health. Imagen’s technology has enabled the community to remain connected whilst socially distant, as well as widen the reach of access to these historical films. Archive films and newsreels are now available to watch at home and in care homes, hospitals, hospices, public libraries and community groups. Crucially for the majority of Living Memories’ members, the portal needed to be intuitive and easy to use, as many of the users are not IT literate.
The Abbeyfield Society, a charity which operates over 450 retirement houses across the UK, has already signed up to use Living Memories Online. It is partnering with Living Memories to create both virtual and socially-distanced ‘Tea & Memories’ reminiscence groups around the UK in the communities in which Abbeyfield operates.
Brian Norris, founder of Living Memories, says: “Archive films can prompt older people to share memories and life experiences. Long-term memory is usually one of their strengths, so, by actively reminiscing, they’re encouraged to communicate and feel more confident about themselves. Since local NHS social prescribing nurses began referring people to our sessions, demand became so high that developing an online portal, with the help of Imagen, made sense; the pandemic has accelerated the urgency since many members can no longer access their local community groups.”
Charlie Horrell, CEO Imagen says: “Imagen’s mission, in its twenty years plus of serving our global clients, has always been to protect the past, capture the present and transform the future of video. Never has that mantra been more pertinent with a project like this – and a test of the intuitiveness of the platform – so we’re proud to be able to work with people as passionate as Living Memories’ founder Brian Norris to ensure that patients can stay connected to the things they remember from the past, using future-proofed technology.”
