Capturing cherished memories and lasting legacies through storytelling.
Research has demonstrated the value of storytelling, reminiscing and sharing life stories as powerful vehicles for meaningful connections with others, reducing social isolation and loneliness, and improving quality of care..
LifeBio is an engagement program that uses technologies like tablets, web cams, smart phones and audio and video equipment to help individuals tell and document their life stories in a unique, easy way. Founded by Beth Sanders, the concept of LifeBio started when she recorded a 90-minute interview with her grandmother in 1993 and learned about her grandmother’s parents and grandparents, where her grandmother had grown up, her beliefs, and her values. Beth gained a new perspective of her grandmother not just as someone who lived down the street and baked her cookies as a child, but rather as a whole, unique person.
Numerous studies initiated by LifeBio and others indicate that capturing life stories together with the benefit of new technology, leads to feelings of purpose and overall wellbeing among older adults. Studies found…
- An increase in happiness levels and satisfaction with life after participants were engaged in answering LifeBio’s 20 biographical questions in the Life Story Guide
- An improvement in resident/staff relations
- A reduction in geriatric depression
- A decrease in resident disorientation
- An improvement in social interaction
- An increased sense of purpose and meaning
Since launching in 2000, LifeBio has helped 20,000 people tell their life stories through autobiographical tools and services for all levels of care. LifeBio is actively used in Front Porch communities including Casa de Mañana, Claremont Manor, Sunny View, Walnut Village, and Wesley Palms Summer House. FPCIW continues to work with LifeBio to test and pilot new solutions such as its LifeBio Studio app and integration with the It’s Never 2 Late platform.
