Art and dementia

The use of art in dementia care is a valuable tool in enriching the lives of people with dementia.

Background

Being engaged with visual and performing arts provides opportunities for people with dementia to express themselves creatively. Through the process of creating an image or participating in a song for example, a person with dementia may access long or short term memories. Being engaged in the arts may provide an access to emotions, self-exploration, thoughts, dreams and hopes.

While scientists are racing to find a cure, according to the Alzheimer Society of Canada, about half a million Canadians were living with dementia in 2009. The arts provide a non-pharmaceutical approach that helps alleviate anxiety and confusion and provide some respite for people with dementia and their caregivers. Being engaged in the arts is a positive way of maintaining or improving one's quality of life, especially those who live with dementia.

Films on art and dementia

The documentary film I Remember Better When I Paint examines the way creative arts bypass the limitations of dementias such as Alzheimer's disease. The film highlights how patients' still-vibrant imaginations are strengthened through therapeutic art.

See also

• Caregiving and dementia
• Montessori-Based Dementia Programming
• Alcohol dementia
• Agitation (dementia)
• Silver Alert
• Sundowning (dementia)
• Wandering (dementia)
• Prion
• The Society for the Arts in Dementia Care
• Opening Minds through Art (OMA)

External links

• Therapy and Dementia
• The Society for the Arts and Dementia Care, Creative Expression, Communication and Dementia - Posted by Dr. Asa Don Brown
• The Society for the Arts and Dementia Care (Australia) Inc. - Posted by Dr. Asa Don Brown
• The Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health
• UBC Brain Research Centre
• Institute of Health Promotion Research
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Aging
• University of California San Francisco, Memory and Aging Centre
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Neurosciences
• Gerontology Research Centre, Department of Gerontology, Simon Fraser University
• Alzheimer Society of Canada
• Canadian Association on Gerontology
• International Association of Gerontology
• Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research
• British Columbia Activity Coordinator Association
• The Dementia Centre - Information provided by PSS (Personal Services Society). Provides information and support to people with dementia, their carers, and health professionals.
• Alzheimer's Research Trust - What is dementia? - Information produced by the Alzheimer's Research Trust including statistics.
• Alzheimer's Society - About dementia - Information produced by the Alzheimer's Society including factsheets and support.
• Ladder to the Moon - A UK-based social enterprise providing coaching, training and creativity through Relationship Theatre.
• Alzheimer's Disease Support Information about Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia provided by Alzheimer's Disease Support Canada.
• Dementia and Huntington's Disease guide from the Huntington's Disease Outreach Project for Education at Stanford
• Dementia Research News from ScienceDaily
• The Dementia Services Development Centre, University of Stirling
• Dementia tutorial for U.K. practitioners by the Alzheimer's Society
• Getting Started in Telecare for Patients with Dementia PDF (897 KiB)
• Report from the Ministerial Summit on Dementia Research
• Understanding Dementia: a primer of diagnosis and management
• AlzOnline - AlzOnline provides education, information, and support to persons caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease or a related memory problem.
• CSIP National Older Persons Mental Health Programme Includes an involvement toolkit with tips on how people with dementia can get involved in the planning, development and evaluation of services
• Dementia Advocacy and Support Network
• Medicinenet
• AgingCare.com—provides information on dementia, Alzheimer's, elder care and other related topics, as well as an online support group for family caregivers who are taking care of elderly and aging family members.
• International Association for the Study of Pain Global Year of Pain in Older Persons resources
• Understand Pain and Dementia tutorial from the Occupational Therapy Department at the University of Alberta
• Concise Guidelines to Better Practice The Assessment of Pain in Older Person - British Pain Society (2007)
• Pain in residential aged care facilities:Management strategies Australian Pain Society (2005)
• Pain Management Kit for Aged Care Government of Australia (2007)
• Dementia at GPnotebook
• Dementia at eMedicineHealth
• MedlinePlus Overview Dementia
• Merck Geriatrics 5-40a
• Opening Minds Through Arts (OMA)
• Timeslips