Why Arts 4 Dementia?
- Creative skills can remain vibrant for years after the onset of dementia – engaging in artistic activity is the best non-pharmacological way to reawaken and stimulate cognitive ability.
- Arts 4 Dementia believes that on diagnosis of dementia people should at the same time be directed to arts opportunities, the power of music, as cognitive rehabilitation, to restore fulfilling social life together in the community.
- We work with arts organisations to facilitate high-quality re-energising arts workshops that bypass the stresses of dementia, inspire the interests of families with dementia, restore elf-esteem and sense of purpose.
- Our Reawakening the Mind, Music Reawakening and Reawakening Integrated: Arts & Heritage resources provide evidence of efficacy and arts workshop models.
- Arts 4 Dementia’s Best Practice symposia disseminate, the science, the culture and health framework, arts and dementia policy and practice.
- Our early-stage dementia awareness training sessions for arts facilitators, delivered with the Dementia Pathfinders, provide insight into the challenges peoople face as the various types of dementia set in, communication needs, existing skills and how best to access them, with arts workshop guidance for dementia.
- The Arts 4 Dementia website signposts nationwide arts opportunities for people living with dementia in the community and carers.
Our Mission
To work in partnership with arts organisations to develop workshops to re-energise and inspire people living with dementia in the community, to bring fulfilment to their lives – and provide opportunities for quality time with their carers and loved ones – through engagement with their chosen art form.
Workshop Evaluation – Reawakening the Mind
To achieve this, we have established a dynamic learning stream for arts venues. Evaluation of 17 Arts 4 Dementia projects at arts venues – Reawakening the Mind: Evaluation of Arts 4 Dementia’s London Arts Challenge in 2012: Arts interventions to re-energise and inspire people in the early stages of dementia and their carers – presents evidence of the effects to participants:
- 94% remained energised, happy and stress-free overnight
- 60% for a week or more
Reawakening the Mind gives examples of each project, and presents a model to spread the practice, with the Culture and Health Framework.
Arts 4 Dementia
- holds early stage dementia awareness training for workshop leaders and arts volunteers
- aims to signpost activities by arts venues, by art form, nationwide
- runs Best Practice Conferences and Seminars for arts organisations and health and care professionals
- is fundraising for staff to reach out to more arts organisations to set up arts workshops so that ultimately wherever people live they will be able to locate stimulating opportunities near by in their chosen art form
- will increasingly raise awareness of the benefits of artistic stimulation
These activities are making and with your support will make a big and important difference to the quality of life of many people living with memory loss, their family and professional carers.