An Art Gallery Access Programme for people with dementia: ‘You do it for the moment’

Abstract

The programme went beyond many dementia activities. Despite no evidence for lasting effects, all involved wanted the programme to continue. A carer quote: You do it for the moment encapsulates a sense that an activity is worthwhile even if it gives benefit only whilst running. The programme is continuing and expanding.

The impact of a visual arts program on quality of life, communication, and well-being of people living with dementia: a mixed-methods longitudinal investigation

“…As far as we are aware, this is the largest The impact of visual arts for people with dementia 419 investigation to take this approach. The application of a mixed-methods research design to a much larger sample of participants and extended with a long-term follow-up adds to previous research of MacPherson et al (2009);Camic et al (2014). Across all the participants, when comparing the arts program with an active control, our findings suggest they experienced "in the moment" benefits to their well-being, in terms of improvements to "interest," "attention," "self-esteem," and "pleasure" and decreases in "negative affect" and "sadness."…”

“…Further work drew on the 2013 study to suggest that the gallery, open to the public at the same time, enabled an intellectually stimulating learning experience, social interaction, support for carers, and the confidence of the person with dementia, leading to enjoyment, and changed the perceptions of the facilitators and carers in relation to their understanding of dementia. MacPherson et al (2009) applied a mixed methods pre-post design, and included behavioral observation to capture "in the moment" engagement in response to an art viewing activity. Fifteen people living with mild to severe dementia visited the National Gallery of Australia for one hour a week over six weeks.…”

Viewing and making art together: a multi-session art-gallery-based intervention for people with dementia and their carers

“…The present study The present study incorporated aspects of the Meet Me at MoMA dementia programme (Rosenberg, 2009 ) and expanded the MacPherson et al (2009) and Eeckelaar et al (2012) studies by developing a more intensive multiple session intervention undertaken simultaneously at two different art galleries: the first, focusing mostly on 17th/18th century European art, housed in a 200-year old Georgian building and the second, showcasing contemporary international art, in a 5-year old ultra-modern building. Previous studies have used only one style of painting or did not indicate a style at all.…”

“…MacPherson et al, 2009 ), involving dissimilar types of art viewed in different art-gallery environments and how such an intervention could impact carer burden, the PWD-carer relationship, social and cognitive domains, social inclusion and quality of life for the PWD. The study also wanted to explore if different styles of artwork might act as different stimuli thus triggering different positive or negative cognitive, emotional or social reactions and experiences, which could be explored in future studies.…”

Impoverished environment, cognition, aging and dementia

“…There is a tendency that staff overemphasizes the defi cits in residents with dementia and that they fail to recognize and stimulate the abilities residents still have (Malone and Camp , 2007 ). However, when independence is promoted, residents with moderate to severe dementia can achieve more than is typically observed during daily interactions (MacPherson et al , 2009 ).…”