When you get a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), it’s common to feel overwhelmed and anxious. There’s often concern about your identity changing and your world getting smaller, says Dung Trinh, MD, an internist with MemorialCare Medical Group in Irvine, California, and chief medical officer of the Healthy Brain Clinic.
“People can feel as if their future is shrinking,” he says. “A legacy project can be profoundly therapeutic because it reminds you that you are more than a diagnosis. It can communicate: ‘My memory may be changing, but my life still has meaning, and my voice still matters.’ That shifts the focus to your contributions and a sense of continuity.”
A legacy project involves sharing stories, recipes, family traditions, photographs, life lessons, letters, and other components of a full life. Dr. Trinh says that these projects can become priceless emotional archives both for the person with MCI and for their family members. Plus, just the process itself can be significant.
“Putting these items together can spark conversation, strengthen relationships, reduce fear, and create moments of mastery,” he says.
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