Called the TRADE interview, this tool can be used to diagnose PTSD in people who are no longer able to tell their life story themselves. This can trigger frustration, agitation and anxiety among people in nursing homes. It can also lead to incomprehension on the part of care workers. According to estimations, at least 8 percent of the 280,000 Dutch people with dementia also suffer from severe anxiety (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

TRADE is a contraction of TRAuma and Dementia. The method was developed by a number of experts, including Dr Sjacko Sobczak, geriatric psychiatrist at Mondriaan and researcher at Maastricht University.

My interest in life stories was confirmed when, as a medical student, I started working in a care home. I discovered that there were people who were seen as 'difficult' or 'troublesome', because of aggression, for example, or because they constantly called out for help. Now, as a geriatric psychiatrist, I can really mean something for them," says Dr Sobczak, who works as a researcher at MHeNs, the Maastricht University School for Mental Health and Neuroscience. She hopes that the TRADE project can result in a people-oriented and innovative treatment method for PTSD which can be broadly applied in regional and national care centres.