By Laura Pratt – 21st June 2023
We may not always be aware of the effect of the arts on our lives but do you every find yourself humming along to a tune on the radio? Have you ever stopped to look at a beautiful painting, building or sculpture. While we may not be the next Leonardo da Vinci we are all creative and we find ways to express this in our day to day lives, ranging from the clothes we wear to how we arrange our living and work space. In our own way we are expressing our sense of who we are and what is important to us.
For people living with dementia alternative avenues of self-expression become more vital as their ability to communicate conversationally becomes more impaired as the condition progresses. It is important to provide people with dementia with alternative routes to communicate and express themselves and this is an area where the knowledge and experience of family and friends can be vital. Knowing what activities the person enjoys and providing them with an opportunity to engage in them allows them to continue the experience of living their life. Playing music that they like or going out to do gardening provides an opportunity to reconnect with their life. In this way they can not only express themselves but can participate in a shared activity with family and friends that provides support and comfort for everybody. Creative activities also provide the person with an opportunity to divert their attention away from what can be unsettling worries and anxieties onto something that provides a sense of calm and self-achievement.
Another way to use creative activity is to present the person with an opportunity to try something different and provide them with an opportunity for development. There can be a perception that as dementia is a declining condition there is no opportunity for new experience and learning. This approach presents a barrier for the person with dementia and effectively consigns them to a future of no new experiences. People with dementia have the same rights as everyone else for self-fulfillment and the creative arts can provide them with an opportunity to experience this. From my own personal experience working with people with dementia I have witnessed the positive affect of music and art sessions. In one recent art session one person who no longer has the capacity to communicate verbally, showed me her painting and indicated through physical gestures that this allowed her to put what was in her head down on paper.
Self-expression and creativity are a fundamental part of who we are and living with dementia should not in anyway diminish this. Providing people with dementia with creative activities is not only of benefit for them but for everyone else around them as demonstrated by the following poem written by an activities co-ordinator in a residential nursing home about the affect of the art class for both the resident and herself.
Poem written by Ann Maher, Activities Co-Ordinator, TLC Centre, Maynooth, Co. Kildare
How calm and focused
While painting you were.
It was as if you hadn’t a care.
There was no anxiety
No drama no fear.
I looked at your face
So serene.
No worry lines
To be seen.
Paint brush steady
Making straight lines
A multitude of colour
Brushed across the page.
Your calm now
No dementia rage
A little bit of respite
To calm the mind
You are one of a kind