TimeSlips Creative Storytelling Project

Do I have to take the Training to use the site?

Nope. The site is free and yours to use.  If you want to facilitate storytelling with people with dementia, we strongly suggest you take the training, so you can be sure to get the best results.

This is fun. Who was this designed for? And who can use it?

It IS fun isn’t it? TimeSlips was originally designed for people with cognitive disabilities like dementia. Creativity is an ideal way for people with cognitive challenges to communicate with others. Our main audience are families, care providers and people with dementia. But it’s fun for everyone. Anyone is welcome to use the site! We are now working with literacy programs, children's groups, and senior centers to bring creative engagement to learners of all ages and abilities. 

Can I see TimeSlips in action somewhere?  

In 2011, TimeSlips began to Certify Facilitators and Facilities/Organizations to ensure that those who say they are using the method really are doing it right.  All currently Certified Facilitators and Facilities/Organizations are listed on our Training page.  If there isn't one near you, simply watch the video on the home page to see TimeSlips in action at Luther Manor in Milwaukee, WI.  Our Online Training also has extensive videos of the process in action. 

How can I learn more?

TimeSlips offers a playful and informative online training as well as in-person training workshops. Click here to watch a live demonstration on the TimeSlips method.
Click here to learn more about our training programs and order online training.  Or contact the Center on Age & Community to learn about training your organization. 

How can I train my staff to do this?

We offer Facility and Organizational Certification. This can involve a combination of online and in-person trainings that fit your needs. Simply contact Sue Braden at the UWM Center on Age & Community.

Does creative storytelling have any real effect on people with dementia?

There is some nice, solid research out there now telling us that yes, this kind of creative engagement has significant impact on the lives of people with dementia.

Fritsch, Thomas; Jung Kwak; Grant, Stacey; Lang, Josh; Montgomery, Rhonda R.; Basting, Anne D. (2009). “Impact of TimeSlips, a Creative Expression Intervention Program, on Nursing Home Residents With Dementia and their Caregivers.” Gerontologist, Feb, 49.1, 117-127.

This one suggests that TimeSlips improves the quantity and quality of engagement between staff and residents on dementia units, even among those who didn’t take the training or participate in the sessions. It also improved the attitudes of the staff toward people with dementia.

Philips, Lorraine J.; Reid-Arndt, Stephanie A.; Youngju Park (2010). “Effects of a Creative Expression Intervention on Emotions, Communication, and Quality of Life in Persons With Dementia.” Nursing Research, Nov/Dec, 59.6, 417-425.

This one suggests that TimeSlips improves the communication and affect of people with dementia.

Daniel R. George, Heather L. Stuckey, Caroline F. Dillon, Megan M. Whitehead. (2011). "Impact of Participation in TimeSlips, a Creative Group-Based Storytelling Program, on Medical Student Attitudes Toward Persons With Dementia: A Qualitative Study" Gerontologist, June, 51.5, 699-703.

This one suggests that medical student participation in TimeSlips (TS), a creative group-based storytelling program, with persons affected by dementia improved student attitudes toward this patient population.

How can I get my loved one into a TimeSlips program?

Check the Train page for our list of Certified Facilitators and Facilities.  If there isn't one near you, bring the website/info about the program to your current aging services provider (senior center, day center, early memory loss program, or long term care facility).  This method is inexpensive and easy to learn (especially now with our new Online Training!) and can easily be incorporated into any program. 

We already do storytelling in my facility. How is TimeSlips different?

You might be doing something similar. Double check this list to see if you are:

• Are you doing the storytelling the same each time?
  (creating a ritual process and a special event?)
• Are you accepting and validating every answer?
  Including gestures, sounds, and non-sensical answers?
• Are you asking open-ended questions?
• Are you echoing the responses to be sure you’re getting them right?
• Are you having fun?
• Is it working?
• Are you sharing the stories beyond your group?
  

TimeSlips is developed as a ritual so people with memory loss can learn it through their subconscious or implicit memory. It is based on shifting the emphasis from memory to opening and validating the imagination. The effect is the creation of a “laboratory” of sorts, where people who have difficulty with communication can experiment with sounds, gestures, word fragments, and whole sentences; make meaning; and have fun at the same time.

Can people with severe memory loss do this? I don’t think my group is capable…

Yes! TimeSlips works best with people in the mid to late stages of memory loss. They are the most open to language experimentation. People in early stages tend to be more eager to capture factual memories. We have run many successful groups made up of people at all stages and abilities. One just needs to remind people that TimeSlips is about the imagination, and to reflect the joy at the base of the process.

Can I earn continuing education hours (CEH's or CEU's) for taking the online training?

Yes! Issued from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, 4 continuing education hours are available upon request, contingent upon your successful completion of the TimeSlips online training. It is your responsibility to check with your certifying organization to ensure their admittance.

I’ve done the training - should I get “certified?”

That’s up to you! Certification gets you ongoing feedback from Trainers to help you improve your craft through the certification process and through conference calls. You get a lovely document that says you are an official Certified Facilitator. You are listed in our database, receive TimeSlips Newsletters, and have access to lots of additional support materials like evaluation forms. Certification is good for three years.

I’m a certified facilitator. What does that mean I can do?

You can run storytelling circles and call them TimeSlips. Some people volunteer as facilitators, and others do it as part of their paid work in dementia care. You can “model” TimeSlips for others, but you can not “certify” others. That is reserved for people trained as TimeSlips Trainers.

How do I become a Trainer? I want to train others in my company to do this.

If your company becomes a Certified Facility, you can be designated as a lead Facilitator. This would enable you to model the method for others, and coordinate the training within your organization. We have a core team of dedicated and well-trained Trainers who travel the country to train and certify individuals and organizations. We are currently not training anymore Trainers.

I care for my husband at home. Can I do this one-on-one?

Of course you can! In fact, we designed this site for you so you can have something meaningful and playful to do at home and also invite family members who might be far away to play with you (through the "collaborate" button). An individual facilitator can work with one person to ask open-ended questions and encourage and celebrate responses. Our Online Training features a video of a one-on-one session.

What other creativity activities work like TimeSlips?

We actively seek out “like-minded” programs. They include:  Opening Minds Through Art (OMA), Dancing Heart, Songwriting Works, Alzheimer’s Poetry Project, Memory Bridge, and DanceWorks’ IMAP. These programs all share several characteristics:

• they can train anyone to do it. You don’t necessarily need to be “credentialed.”
• they are “failure free” and build on a person’s strengths.
• they approach the person with dementia primarily an artist who can grow skills, not a patient who is sick.
• they use story and narrative to help the person with dementia communicate who they are to others.
• they share the artistic products in a professional manner, as a way to build community.

Where do you find these images!?

We find images that have the Creative Commons license and ask permission to use it for non-commercial purposes. We also have a special relationship with Avanti Press. They have generously donated the use of several of our images.

We have also created a STORYKIT, a keepsake book full of 50 images and blank pages on which you can write your stories. Order it now.

In general, you can find images in greeting cards, calendars, online image banks (like Flickr or the New York Public Library) and magazine ads. If you don’t own the rights, however, be sure to have permission to use the image if you plan to sell it in book or calendar form.