There is a workbook available for prompting one through a process of recording a life’s details and its stories. It is entitled A Guide for Revealing and Telling Your Life Story. The workbook is available for purchase from the Hospice Foundation of America.
In instances where I have not felt that I would be able to work a potential hospice writing partner to successfully complete a memoir, I always leave behind a copy of this workbook. It offers loved ones a way at capture at least some information and recollections. Of course it does not tackle the much harder work of writing that information int a compelling memoir, but it does at lease give prompts that can stimulate memory and elicit information.
If you use questions like the ones in this book to prompt another to give stories and details, the best thing to do is to capture the replies on an audio recorder. Digital recorders are available from many retail outlets and online from less than $50.
You can find out more about capturing and writing the stories of others right in this website by clicking here.