The power of art in treating dementia
Bingo dabbers, paint brushes and collages are helping people with dementia connect with their past lives and their families.
Art therapist Dianne Shannon offers a variety of materials, including vintage embroidery patterns for people to colour, to stimulate residents at Riverbend Crossing Memory Care Community.
“Even if they can’t remember doing embroidery, or maybe they never did, the vintage embroidery patterns are very recognizable,” Shannon said.
Bingo dabbers are used because they are easy to hold and brightly coloured. As Shannon and residents take turns dabbing spots on canvas, it doesn’t take long to get a pattern and communication going.
Not only do art sessions stimulate social interactions as residents sit around a table making art together, but their self-esteem improves.
“I had a fellow doing needlepoint and he had good feelings about being able to master that,” Shannon said. “Some people will go through collage images and recognize somewhere they’ve travelled or they’ll say, ‘I lived on a farm’ or ‘This reminds me of my sister’ — so collages provide emotional expression.”
People with dementia are often agitated and anxious.
“Having something to focus on distracts them from that anxiety and even the physical act of making art can be relaxing,” Shannon said.
Using a bingo dabber to bang circles on paper also reduces anxiety.
“Something that’s very important for people who have supported living is the ability to make choices — especially for someone with dementia,” Shannon said. “Just by necessity of their life now there are fewer opportunities to make choices.”
During art sessions, participants can choose subject matter, materials and how to use them.
“It’s not the product so much as the process.”
The project at Riverbend, which began in July, has had a positive impact on residents, said Tanya Gallagher, social director at Riverbend Crossing.
“We don’t place any expectations on anyone when they take part,” she said. “Whatever you do is OK and whatever you don’t do is fine, too.”
Gallagher and Shannon offered sessions in a meeting room with quiet classical music playing and in the dining room, to see how residents reacted in different environments.
“The meeting room was a bit more quiet, so people were less distracted and were able to work with the art materials and interact with each other,” Shannon said. “But in the dining room, it was interesting because there was more interaction with people going by and maybe more comfortable, too, because it was in a familiar spot where they’ve been before.”
Shannon noted residents’ concentration improved from 15 minutes in the first session to 45 minutes by the third session.
Art taps into areas of a person’s experience and personality that people think has been lost.
“It reconnects that individual with experiences that may not come up in daily living,” Shannon said. “Families can get involved as well and they can see their family member in a different light as the disease progresses.”
While art therapy isn’t a cure, “It can definitely improve their experience of life and their family’s experience with them,” Shannon said.
On Friday night, nine residents’ paintings were to be auctioned at a ’70s-themed evening. All proceeds are to be donated to the Alzheimer Society of Saskatchewan.
“Some is bingo dabber art, some is string art where the string is pulled through paint and then you drag it over your canvas,” Gallagher said.
While dabbing paint on canvas with residents, Gallagher has learned to be more open about the concept of art.
“You need to let go of all expectations of what the end should look like,” she said.