Dementia Can Open the Door to Artistic Expression
The treatment of people with dementia has changed dramatically since I first became personally involved with the disease. It’s now widely recognized that while cognitive abilities change with dementia, there is still an individual residing in this damaged body.
Those in the arts, especially, have seen that concentrating on what people can do, rather than what they can’t do, is vital for quality of life. As this attitude spreads, we’re seeing that people with dementia often show talents that we never knew existed.
A devastating introduction to dementia: My dad’s brain was irreparably damaged by a failed brain surgery that sent him into instant dementia. At the time, reorientation was the accepted way to help people with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.
Reorientation is a method of forcing the person to come back into the “real” world. Because I was a newcomer in dementia care, I didn’t know about the so-called “correct” method of reorientation. I did what came naturally for me and joined Dad in his altered world. That world included music and other creative aspects of life, as well as validating real and perceived experiences in the educational and scientific areas that interested him.
Fortunately, the practice of reorientation has died out and validation therapy has become recognized as the most humane and productive way to manage dementia.
Validation therapy often includes encouraging artistic adventures. Slowly, what art and music therapists have known all along is being recognized: people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias still have talents. They still have dreams. Frequently, these latent talents come to the surface after other areas of their brains…
Minding Our Elders: Caregivers Share Their Personal Stories. “I hold onto your book as a life preserver and am reading it slowly on purpose…I don’t want it to end.” …Craig William Dayton, Film Composer
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