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Archive for February, 2009

Creativity and Dementia in DC!

Posted in art, cultural phenom, disability, public education, tagged , , , , , on February 23, 2009 | 4 Comments »

I’m so excited for the March 30- April 1st Creativity Matters: Health, Wellness and the Arts Symposium coordinated by the National Center for Creative Aging.  I’ll be doing an all-day TimeSlips Creative Storytelling training workshop at the Iona Senior Center on Monday the 30th.

On the 31st, there’s a knock-out line up of folks presenting on dementia, storytelling (fiction and non-fiction), and the Meet Me At MoMA program.  I’m honored to be included.

On the 1st, there’s a hands-on workshop with the MoMA folks to learn how they lead discussions about art with people with dementia and their care partners.

In some ways, this is a mini version of the book (Forget Memory, due out – at long last – in May/June), as it contains profiles of the StoryCorps Memory Loss Initiative (presenting!), the MoMA program, and TimeSlips.  I’ll be doing an overview of the field that pulls on much of my research for the book.

Hope to see some of you there!

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Are social, challenging activities enough?

Posted in art, disability, public education, science of memory on February 18, 2009 | 3 Comments »

There is a swirl of research out there now…and it’s confusing.  On the one hand, there is a growing body of research that suggests that social, creative activities help stave off memory loss.  This article for example, suggests that activities like quilting, pottery and computer games reduce the effects of memory loss.

Logic would have it that specific brain training exercises would do even more.  And the market for such software has grown from 25 million in 2005 to 225 million this year.  This article suggests that such programs might have a short term effect, but no generalizable, long term effects.

After seeing many creative programs with people with dementia in action, my belief is that a major part of the impact of these programs is the creation of an accepting, supportive community around the person.  Learning and expression are possible, and when they are awakened, the quality of life improves for both sides of the care partnership.

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Brain Training a Bust?

Posted in cultural phenom, medicine, science of memory, tagged , on February 11, 2009 | 5 Comments »

There’s been lots of hype about cognitive fitness, with a slew of computer games and programs comign out to help older people train their brains.  They hint that cognitive fitness can delay or prevent the onset of dementia.  But this article suggests that the computer programs don’t have any more effect than doing a crossword in the newspaper.   Perhaps a glass of red wine, some friends, a little social dancing, and maybe a group game of scrabble might be the best combo!

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New documentary wrestles with memory loss

Posted in Uncategorized on February 11, 2009 |

There’s a new documentary film by Rick Minnich called Forgetting Dad, in which a filmmaker plays detective to better understand what happened 16 years before, when his father lost his memory.  Was it the car accident?  Was it something else?    Learn more…

from Forgetting Dad

from Forgetting Dad

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Intriguing Dance Project

Posted in art, cultural phenom, tagged , , , , , on February 6, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Seattle-based Pat Graney Company has created the House of Mind, a site-specific dance that wrestles with how memories are formed and how they dissolve.  The piece features interviews with Graney’s mother, recently diagnosed with early stages of Alzheimer’s.  Oh to fly to Seattle to see it!

House of Mind

House of Mind

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