Vintage candy wrappers may be able to help people suffering from dementia by triggering happy memories of things they can remember, according to Nestle.
The company has given care groups access to an archive of vintage wrappers and packaging after they said they were convinced that seeing the images from a bygone era might help revive positive recollections from patients' long-term memories. The Alzheimer's Society has contributed their inputs and is testing the hypothesis with two other support groups running activities for dementia patients and their care providers.
Some of the product images featured includes chocolate pie, a product that contained aerated milk chocolate and caramel. Other images were of tin labels, posters, photographs, chocolate boxes and one of the earliest examples of a Fruit Gums box. "Even something as simple as an old sweet wrapper can bring back vivid memories from a happy time," said Alzheimer's Society spokeswoman Alison Cook. "This activity helps care givers and loved ones to engage people with dementia in a positive and has the potential to improve the quality of life for the 800,000 people living with dementia in the UK."
James Moxton, spokesman for Nestle, said: "We are keen to share the contents of the archives with as wide an audience as possible and we are delighted to use some of our favorite artifacts to produce this." Nestle is a confectionary giant that has created reminiscence packs and wrappers for most of their products.
