Abstract

The project undertakes research with items from Boots the Chemist’s archive. The goal is to identify archival objects that have the potential to: benefit people with dementia and their carers, and to inspire creative and public engagement activities that raise awareness of the condition.
The Boots archive represents a rich resource, offering opportunities for empirical research and wider public scrutiny. The research involves exploration of archival items using object handling, photography, interviews with Boots staff and documentation. T
The research will lead to:

insights on the therapeutic and public engagement potential of archival objects
a peer reviewed publication, seminar presentations, web posts and blogs, sharing findings with the wider public.

Aims

The aim is to assess the therapeutic, aesthetic and public engagement potential of objects. The history, composition, usage and psychosocial associations of each item will be considered including multisensory characteristics that indicate potential for future research and public engagement activities.