Abstract

It is generally accepted that the ‘arts’ improve the lives of those who live with a dementia. Consequently there has been a proliferation of arts based activities for people with dementia. However, there has been little or no critical evaluation of these initiatives. Similarly there has been little work exploring the views of people with a dementia who participate in arts activities. This lack of research has resulted in an uncertainty regarding the approaches that may be most effective. The proposed review will provide a corrective to this lack of clarity. The work will supply an analytical overview of the existing arts and cultural interventions that are used in dementia care. It will map some of the approaches being used and the gaps in research and knowledge concerning the use of the arts for dementia care. Above all, it will seek the views of people living with a dementia and integrate these in the final report.

The major outputs arising from the review will include a critical report on current arts based approaches to dementia care that will contribute towards a new critical paradigm for the assessment of arts and culture based approaches to dementia care. In addition, the review will articulate the perceptions of people living with a dementia concerning the value of arts and cultural interventions to their well-being and health and these views will be central to the re-appraisal of prevalent assumptions about the benefits of arts and culture in the lives of those living with a dementia. An additional major output from the 6 month project will be the development of a dedicated website that disseminates findings in accessible language and therefore reaches beyond academic boundaries to people living with a dementia, their carers and the dementia care workforce.

The project will benefit from a uniquely qualified inter-disciplinary team comprising: the PI – Dr. Hannah Zeilig (a research fellow at both the University of the Arts, London and the University of East Anglia) who has over two decades of experience as a gerontologist and has used numerous arts based approaches with people living with a dementia; Chris Fox who will provide clinical/research guidance and is a leading international dementia researcher and consultant old age psychiatrist and the input of the innovator and pioneer of arts based approaches to dementia care: John Killick.

Aims

The proposed review will provide a corrective to this lack of clarity. The work will supply an analytical overview of the existing arts and cultural interventions that are used in dementia care. It will map some of the approaches being used and the gaps in research and knowledge concerning the use of the arts for dementia care. Above all, it will seek the views of people living with a dementia and integrate these in the final report.