Related Research
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Brain Health
Overview: To discover how an arts-based program can facilitate positive engagement in the moment for persons with dementia and their family caregivers. Working collaboratively, the Art Gallery of Hamilton (AGH) and Behavioural Health at St. Peter’s Hospital developed an arts based experience that facilitated art appreciation and art making for persons with dementia. These involved exposure to pieces of art, as well as discussions on how the art impacted the individual and their caregivers.
| Intervention Components: | In total, eight participants and their family members consented and attended the research educational sessions which took place at the AGH and hospital setting over a one year period. |
| Results: | For program participants, factors that promoted continued interest and engagement in art included: care partner involvement, group activities, opportunities to share opinions, validation of their personhood, and increased engagement over time. Care partners observed improvements in participants’ creativity, communication, relationship forming, and task accomplishment, and some reported reduced stress. |
| Conclusions: | ‘Artful Moments’ promoted engagement and expression in persons in the middle-to-late stages of dementia, as well as having benefits for their care partners. Limitations of the study included a small convenience sample drawn from one hospital setting. |
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