Table 3.

A comparison, using narrative analyses, of the most commonly used reminiscence therapy components (used in 50% or more studies that evidenced either a beneficial impact or no beneficial impact on outcomes).

	RT component associated with a beneficial impact	Number of studies	Studies	RT components that are associated with no beneficial impact	Number of studies	Studies
Cognition	Memory triggers	6	Baines et al. (1987), Melendez et al. (2015), Tadaka and Kanagawa (2007b) (VD), Thorgrimsen et al. (2002), Van Bogaert et al. (2016) and Yamagami et al. (2012)	Memory triggers	5	Amieva et al. (2016), Tadaka and Kanagawa (2007a) (AD), Thorgrimsen et al. (2002), Woods et al. (2012) and Yamagami et al. (2012)
				Themes	6	Akanuma et al. (2011), Amieva et al. (2016), Goldwasser et al. (1987), Ito et al. (2007), Tadaka and Kanagawa (2007a) (AD) and Woods et al. (2012)
Mood	Memory triggers	3	Gonzalez et al. (2015), Hsieh et al. (2010) and Van Bogaert et al. (2016)	Memory triggers	5	Charlesworth et al. (2016), Tadaka and Kanagawa (2007a (AD), 2007b (VD)), Woods et al. (2012) and Yamagami et al. (2012)
	Life stages	4	Gonzalez et al. (2015), Haight et al. (2006), Hsieh et al. (2010) and Morgan and Woods (2012)	Themes	5	Akanuma et al. (2011), Charlesworth et al. (2016), Tadaka and Kanagawa (2007a (AD), 2007b (VD)) and Woods et al. (2012)
Behaviour	Themes	2	Akanuma et al. (2011) and Thorgrimsen et al. (2002)	Themes	7	Azcurra (2012), Charlesworth et al. (2016), Goldwasser et al. (1987), Ito et al. (2007), Tadaka and Kanagawa (2007a (AD), 2007b (VD)) and Woods et al. (2012)
	Memory triggers	2	Thorgrimsen et al. (2002) and Yamagami et al. (2012)
	Reality Orientation	2	Akanuma et al. (2011) and Yamagami et al. (2012)	Memory triggers	6	Azcurra (2012), Baines et al. (1987), Charlesworth et al. (2016), Tadaka and Kanagawa (2007a (AD), 2007b (VD)) and Woods et al., 2012
	Activities	2	Thorgrimsen et al. (2002) and Yamagami et al. (2012)
QoL	Life stages	4	Azcurra (2012), Gonzalez et al. (2015), Lai et al. (2004) and Subramaniam et al. (2014)	Memory triggers	4	Amieva et al. (2016), Charlesworth et al. (2016), Thorgrimsen et al. (2002) and Woods et al. (2012)
				Themes	3	Amieva et al. (2016), Charlesworth et al. (2016) and Woods et al. (2012)
				Family-only sessions	3	Charlesworth et al. (2016), Thorgrimsen et al. (2002) and Woods et al. (2012)
				Activities	3	Charlesworth et al. (2016), Thorgrimsen et al. (2002) and Woods et al. (2012)
Carer	Themes	4	Charlesworth et al. (2016), Särkämö et al. (2013) and Thorgrimsen et al. (2002)	Themes	3	Amieva et al. (2016), Azcurra (2012) and Woods et al. (2012)
	Activities	4	Charlesworth et al. (2016), Särkämö et al. (2013) and Thorgrimsen et al. (2002)	Memory triggers	3	Amieva et al. (2016), Azcurra (2012) and Woods et al. (2012)
	Memory triggers	2	Charlesworth et al. (2016) and Thorgrimsen et al. (2002)	Family occasionally included	2	Azcurra, 2012 and Woods et al., 2012
	Life stages	2	Charlesworth et al. (2016) and Subramaniam et al. (2014)
	Family-only sessions	2	Charlesworth et al. (2016) and Subramaniam et al. (2014)
Communication	Memory triggers	5	Azcurra (2012), Tadaka and Kanagawa (2007a (AD), 2007b (VD)), Thorgrimsen et al. (2002) and Yamagami et al. (2012)	Memory triggers	1	Baines et al. (1987)
	Themes	4	Azcurra (2012), Tadaka and Kanagawa (2007a (AD), 2007b (VD)) and Thorgrimsen et al. (2002)

Italics = to illustrate that memory triggers and themes were found not to be consistently beneficial.

Bold = to illustrate that life stage was associated with a beneficial impact on mood, QoL, and carer related outcomes. QoL: quality of life