Healing words: A study of poetry interventions in dementia care

Abstract

The personhood movement in dementia research has established the theoretical foundation for implementing cultural arts interventions in care practices. The underlying assumption is that professionals from the visual and the performance arts are well equipped to see the person behind the condition and to focus on possibilities for meaningful relationships in the here and now. This article focuses on poetry interventions as one example of cultural arts interventions. The use of poetry might seem counterintuitive, given that people with dementia lose their language abilities and that poetry is regarded to be the most complex literary form. I will argue that expanding on existing research on poetry interventions from a health and science perspective with a humanities approach will help illuminate how poetry works to enhance the exchange with people with dementia. Drawing on participant observations of poetry interventions by Gary Glazner (Alzheimer's Poetry Project, USA) at the New York Memory Center, I will frame poetry interventions as a specific form of oral poetry in which people with dementia are positioned as cocreators of embodied texts and directly benefit from the power of the spoken word.

Medical Students’ Perceptions of Dementia after Participation in Poetry Workshop with People with Dementia

“…Glazner performed “call and response” during the construction of the love poem; this encouraged participation from both the medical students and people with dementia. Other poetry preceptors might not carry out the workshop as effectively and might not produce the same effects in students' perceptions of people with ADRD [ 17 , 18 ]. In addition, Mr. Glazner chose the topic of the group poem.…”

Critical reflections on methodological challenge in arts and dementia evaluation and research

“…Assessment of artistic quality, aesthetic experience, cultural contributions, process, social impact and economic value appear rare in the arts and dementia literature. Social or experiential effects of the arts on individuals with dementia have been explored using methodologies including ethnography (Swinnen, 2014), interpretive phenomenological analysis (Gregory, 2011), personal narrative analysis (Fels & Astell, 2011) and participatory critical arts-based enquiry (Dupuis, Kontos, Mitchell, Jonas-Simpson, & Gray, 2016). However, such distinctive approaches are seldom employed in evaluating the impact, outcomes or implementation of arts and dementia activities.…”

A Creative Writing Workshop on Sexuality and Ageing: A Spanish Pilot Case Study

“…In this line of thought, creative writing workshops and poetry workshops in particular are often used by "pracademics" not only of social, but also of medical sciences in order to foster the well-being of the older people and to have a better understanding of their ageing experiences. From a medical point of view, the reading, writing and sharing of poetry is being used as a therapy with older adults who suffer from dementia or who have gone through strong traumas, such as cancer [16,17]. From a social sciences point of view, a number of poetry workshops have been conducted in nursing homes and senior clubs in the USA and in Europe [18][19][20][21].…”