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.
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