January 22, 2010 by Anne Basting
Classes start up on Monday, and on Tuesday, we have our first scheduled meeting of the “Penelope Research Team,” 5 students and my colleague Robin Mello. We are entering the research stage of the Penelope Project, which will facilitate discussions with family, staff, and residents at Luther Manor Health Center’s nursing home (among other local settings), about the myth of Penelope from Homer’s Odyssey.
In the fall of 2010, UWM students will help facilitate these discussions, and creatively present their substance back to the groups. Then in the spring of 2011, family, staff, residents, and students collaborate with professional theatre company Sojourn Theatre to create a site-specific performance in the Health Center, inspired by the myth and by the discussions.
This semester, we gather information to fuel this exciting project -
What are interesting themes/images in the myth of Penelope?
What models of arts programs are there of this scale in long term care?
What other artistic iterations of Penelope have been created?
What myths from other cultures might resonate on a similar level to the Penelope story?
What is the current state of long term care for family? for staff? for residents?
How are issues of aging taught (most effectively) to children K-12? to students in higher education? LTC professionals? The general public?
Our hearty research team will tackle these questions to inform the creation of our educational guide to the project, and to inform the project (discussions and play creation) itself.
Stay tuned for more installments as this amazing project rev’s up!
We received our first grant to support the project in December – from the Wisconsin Arts Board’s Creative Communities program – and hope to share news of more with you soon!
Posted in art, cultural phenom, long term care, public education, theatre | Tagged Luther Manor, Penelope, Sojourn Theatre, theatre and aging, UWM | Leave a Comment »
December 31, 2009 by Anne Basting
I take a brief moment, while the boys are still waking up and playing their video games, to look back at the whirlwind that was 2009.
A sincere and huge thank you to all of you who picked me up at airports, hosted meals, introduced me, drove me around, picked just the right hotels, shared post-talk drinks with me, shared their stories with me, and believed in the book. Conferences and seminars are a whole lot of work to organize, and I felt so honored by your thoughtfulness and thoroughness.
Like Lokon and the gang at Scripps at Miami of Ohio
Linda Altmeyer and the gang at the Alzheimer’s Assoc. of Indiana
Beth Meyer Arnold and all the folks at the National Adult Day Services Association conference
Anne Robinson who arranged an incredible batting order at the Edna Gates Conference in Troy, MI
Joyce Konczyk who simply willed it all to happen in St. Paul
Helen Ramon whose vision and amazing fortitude has created a consortium of 10 museums in Wisconsin all doing programs for families with dementia
Teresa Mangum and those inspiring public scholars in Iowa City
The folks at Johns Hopkins who are getting the word and books out
I’ll be teaching a bit more next semester (guiding 36 students through a semester of reading, really reading plays) and I’m trying to stay a little closer to home for my boys (4 and 7). But I’ll be at American Society on Aging in March; the University of Washington in late April; the National Assoc. of Activity Professionals in April; and possibly the Pioneer Network Conference in August.
But I’m hoping the book starts to get reviews and that those of you who have enjoyed it share the word with your friends and colleagues! Ask your local library to buy it. Donate a copy to your local chapter of the Alzhiemer’s Association. Recommend it on your Facebook status update. Recommend it to your local public affairs radio or tv show. Togehter, we’ll keep alive the conversation about how to bring about a “cultural cure” for dementia!
Looking Forward!
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November 9, 2009 by Anne Basting
The consortium of five Wisconsin art museums sharing resources to develop programs for families with dementia received some nice press this week. The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau has crafted a 5-year plan to develop, offer, and evaluate programs for families with dementia through partnerships with local arts and aging organizations. The article got picked up and shared by the American Association of Museums as well! In addition to the Woodson, the consortium includes The Museum of Wisconsin Art (West Bend), The Racine Art Museum, the Milwaukee Public Museum, and the John Michael Kohler Art Museum (Sheboygan).
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November 4, 2009 by Anne Basting
Well that was quite an amazing affair. The 2009 Edna Gates Conference in Troy, Michigan assembled some of the people I admire most in the field. I had to teach on Monday, so I missed my friend and colleague Rhonda Montgomery talking about her innovative T-Care (Tailored Care) program that teaches people to assess the needs of caregivers based on how a person understands/identifies their role as caregiver.
On Tuesday morning, things started off with a small world story. The mother of someone I’d grown up with in my home town of Janesville sat at the table right in front of the podium. We had a nice catch up chat and then I asked her what brought her to the conference, Vann Cowie said “I’m Edna Gates’ youngest sister.”
John McInnis warmly introduced Richard Taylor, who spoke, as always, elegantly with an edge of rabble rousing. He gives us the reason and vision to change the way we treat people with dementia, and to include them in every step of that change process.
Impossibly, I followed Richard. Ever try to do a creative exercise at 9 a.m. with 700 people? Bless them, they were actually pretty game. Michelle Braun followed me. I’ve seen the brain slides many many times…but Michelle told the story of what’s happening in a brain with dementia with a eye toward strengths, not just losses. It was a clear, connected, and very informative talk that made me hope that there might be a new status exam (soon…Michelle??) to assess both strengths and losses. The current mini-mental so clearly reinforces perceptions that this condition is wholely an experience of loss.
Elinor Fuchs (Making an Exit) followed Michelle. The crowd cheered her announcement that she wasn’t going to use powerpoints…and would instead simply read her paper. But Elinor doesn’t “simply” do anything… She presented taped conversations with her mother, reading both parts, embodying both people in a time when they struggled simply to reach and hold each other through a tangle of words. We can talk and talk about person-centered care…but really capturing it and feeling it is rare. And Elinor gave us just that.
I had to put out some fires in the office after lunch, finding my spot on a lobby couch and emailing like a mad woman…but I did catch a bit of Al Power’s presentation on Dementia beyond Drugs. Clearly, he gets it. Psychotropics are not the solution. Changing the way we see dementia and interact with people with it is the solution. He had a LOT to say with dense slides that went very fast. I longed for a more leisurely pace where the pedagogy could match his message of “experiential model” of care than “medical model.”
Then it was off to the airport. I was so happy to see Maria Genne there, and to hear that her new video of her work with Dancing Heart really captures the magic of what creative engagement (through movement in this case) brings people with dementia and their care partners.
Thanks to Anne Robinson for assembling such an amazing roster of folks. It was clearly quite a feat to pull off…which she did with her usual grace.
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October 12, 2009 by Anne Basting
Wednesday night – October 14th at 7 pm, we’ll gather at Boswell Book Copmany on Downer Ave. on Milwaukee’s East Side. I’ll be reading a few choice bits and thanking Rocille McConnell (who’ll be there!) for her and her husband Roger’s shining example of how not to lose faith or each other in the journey through dementia.
Hope to see you there!
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September 28, 2009 by Anne Basting
In September I had the great fortune to two training workshops. The first was a TimeSlips creative storytelling training organized by a dedicated group of volunteers who are part of the Minnesota Dementia Care Professionals network. 130 people squeezed themselves around long tables in the chapel of a nursing home in St. Paul, MN. Joyce Konczyk, the organizer of the training, used her webinar savvy to enable me to do a live demonstration on the 3rd floor of the nursing home that was live fed to the computer/screen down in the chapel.
The second training, held at Cedar Villages in Mason, Ohio, was part of ASA’s/Metlife’s MindAlert program. “Imagine That: Creative Engagment in Dementia Care, is a day-long workshop that invites participants of all backgrounds and work responsibilities to feel the excitement and freedom of creative expression, and then imagine ways to use it to engage with the older adults in their lives. We play with words through stories and poetry as well as simple movement exercises.
In both workshops, toward the end of what is a long, but exilarating day, you could see the excitement in people’s eyes. In Ohio, the teams around each table created multi-tiered projects around a traditional “activity” for people with dementia. “Sorting poker chips” became an opportunity for creating playful sculptures; for becoming a make believe monetary system that could buy you your dreams; and a pleasurable sensory experience as you ran your hands through an enormous bin of chips. And this was from the table with the CEO, who shared the day with us.
With two small children at home, and a husband who travels for work, the travel for trainings is a tough juggle for me. But seeing the “aha’s” in their eyes at these two fabulous trainings gives me the sense that there is a longing for change that might just use creative engagement as its starting point.
The October training line-up:
Posted in art, cultural phenom, long term care, public education | Tagged creative engagement, creativity and dementia, memory loss, NADSA, TimeSlips, trainings, WAHSA, workshops | Leave a Comment »
September 28, 2009 by Anne Basting
There is a growing number of programs in the United States (and across the world), that link community activists and social justice workers with the arts and humanities – often by involving students through service learning programs.
This is a potential and powerful mechanism for transforming long term care. Imagining America, a consortium of colleges and universities that seek to deepen and support this kind of engaged scholarship, studied theses growing programs. Culture and Community Development in Higher Education is a rich resource for anyone interested in learning more about these programs.
The Center on Age & Community, which I direct, broached this topic at our 2009 think tank – “How Can We Radically Transform Activities in Long Term Care” – to which we invited artists, culture workers, caregivers, and leaders/changemakers in long term care. The white paper is now available on CAC’s website – free/downloadable.
CAC is now at work on three collaborations in this vein, our ongoing TimeSlips creative storytelling project; The Penelope Project; and the Communal Table, in which two adult day centers (one in Wisconsin and one in Michigan) will create communal meals and then share the experience with each other virtually.
Posted in art, cultural phenom, long term care, public education | Tagged community development and aging | Leave a Comment »
September 16, 2009 by Anne Basting
USA Today had an article today about the power of art for people with dementia and their caregivers. Between the efforts of MOMA, getting their training materials and trainings out to museums all over the country; Artists for Alzheimers, consulting with museums and other cultural institutions on how to shape programs for people with dementia; and the Helen Bader Foundation’s consortium of cultural institutions…I think we’re starting to see a movement happening!
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September 10, 2009 by Anne Basting
Looks like more research is pointing toward social engagement as a vital key to good health. Not surprising…but helpful to prove the value of encouraging relationships and group work for people with dementia and memory loss.
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August 31, 2009 by Anne Basting
It’s all one system. The way we think is of course, linked to what is happening in the rest of our bodies. “I think therefore I am” doesn’t separate the mind from the body, it announces that the two are linked.
A new study out of the University of Minnesota finds that hopelessness leads to increased risk of stroke among women. Among 559 women tested, those who answered questions about the future and their personal goals and revealed a sense of hopelessness were more likely to have thickening of the neck arteries, a sign for stroke.
The question remains whether it is possible to change attitude and in turn change the women’s risk of stroke. But I would suggest that the role of the arts in public health to simultaneously build a sense of self and community has not fully been explored.
Check out Mike White’s new book, Arts Development and Community Health – it’s a little dense at the start (tracing the linkages between arts and health through the British govt/health system), but the framework is enormously helpful to Americans who continue to see the power of the arts through either a medical lens (therapy) or social justice (community development) lens, but not both.
Posted in art, cultural phenom, public education | Tagged arts and health, hopelessness, Mike White, mind body split, stroke | Leave a Comment »
