The Creative Arts in Dementia Care: Practical Person-Centred Approaches and Ideas

The physical care of people with dementia is of vital importance, but so too is their emotional, social, mental and spiritual wellbeing. The creative arts are gaining increasing recognition not only as a tool for delivering effective person-centred dementia care, but also for attending to soul as well as body.

Encouraging those who care for people with dementia to develop their own creative skills, this book provides a creative map of care with easy-to-follow examples and detailed case studies. After explaining why adopting a creative approach is central to effective dementia care, the authors go on to discuss meditation, singing, movement and storytelling, describing the therapeutic benefits of each and giving practical examples of how they can be used with individuals or groups. They also look at the importance of creative supervision in promoting creativity and creating a safe space for honest interpersonal connection: an essential foundation for effective teamwork.

This book will be an invaluable resource for anyone involved in the care of a person with dementia, including professional staff in residential and nursing homes, hospitals and day centres, families and other non-professional carers.

Jill Hayes was awarded her PhD in Dance Movement Psychotherapy by the University of Hertfordshire in 2004. Prior to this, she did her postgraduate professional training as a dance movement psychotherapist at the Laban Centre in London, and studied the Tamalpa Life/Art Process with the Halprins at the Tamalpa Institute, California, where she graduated in movement-based expressive arts therapy. Jill worked as an expressive arts and dance movement psychotherapist in private practice and as a senior lecturer in counselling and dance at the University of Chichester, UK. Sarah Povey has been singing all her life, with church, school, college and community choirs. Fascinated by the healing aspects of the voice, she was attracted to a course developed by Paul Newham and trained as a voice movement therapy practitioner with him, qualifying in 1999. Since then Sarah has been further enhancing her skills and expertise working with older people, both with and without dementia, and with people with learning difficulties. She currently works in care homes across West Sussex and Hampshire.