Art is an immersive, full sensory experience. When viewing it, your world instantly expands, your heart quickens, thoughts and assessments are conjured, and oftentimes, a sense of awe and joy are imparted. When creating it, these effects are compounded. That’s why the use of art therapy has netted many positive results among dementia patients.
Art therapy is based upon the premise that each person uses color, line and shape in a way that is uniquely linked to them, similar to a fingerprint. We express ourselves creatively and uniquely by arranging art materials in a meaningful pattern. Our individual creative expressive also affects the way we interpret art, creating a unique experience for each viewer.
According to research conducted by the Art Gallery of New South Wales1, art therapy can enhance communication, brain function and social interaction for dementia patients — and combat the negative effects of dementia. Similar to the effects that music has on patients, art inspires conversations among patients and their caregivers because it gives them some common ground. Visual art can also trigger dormant memories and emotions, inspiring even more conversation. Simply put, dementia patients feel more joy and less anxiety when viewing and creating art.
A research program at the University of Technology Sydney found that exposure to art in a museum setting contributed to an improved quality of life for people living with dementia by providing them with opportunities to experience “in the moment” pleasure as they looked at art and engaged with other people1. Participants laughed, smiled and made connections with things in the paintings. Memories were triggered as they reminisced about their life experiences or made associations from the paintings about their daily lives. In the paper, Nurturing the Heart: Creativity, Art Therapy and Dementia, the author “offers a validation of art therapists and diversional therapists therapeutic work and provides some guidelines as to the special ways of working with people with dementia.”
While Alzheimer’s and dementia damage the parts of the brain dealing with memory and planning complex tasks, the areas of the brain involved in emotion and in aesthetic appreciation remain intact for much longer. It is thought that viewing art activates systems that are preserved and are widely connected with other cerebral areas, resulting in globally stimulating the brain2. Researchers have seen an improvement of depressive symptoms, improved cognition and increased sociability among patients engaged in art therapy programs.
When patients create art2, the activity also engages and stimulates the whole brain. Instead of simply responding to images, patients must be fully engaged as they make art, bringing it to life, whether that be via drawing, painting or sculpture. While art therapy stimulates the temporal love, it also encourages the use of motor skills as the patients manipulate art materials with their hands to create their pieces.
One of the most important pieces of art therapy, according to art therapist Elizabeth Cockey3, is that it can improve quality of life both for patients with dementia and their caregivers. Cockey notes that it’s not merely a matter of giving a patient art supplies and leaving the room. This is a real opportunity to start a conversation, even if it’s nonverbal. By creating art with those suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s, family members and friends can re-establish a connection with their loved one.
Caregivers also have the opportunity to discover their loved one is “still there.” One participant shared that she attended an art therapy program with her father who suffered from dementia. When confronted with a canvas he started painting horses, the animal he had worked with and loved all his life. His daughter found great solace in this art connection, and joy returned to her father’s face as he created and viewed his paintings.
This important research has led memory care facilities and museums across the country to to develop art therapy programs aimed at people suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia. Contact your local museum and / or Alzheimer’s Association chapter to find out about art therapy programs in your area.
1https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au
3https://www.parentgiving.com/elder-care/art-as-mechanism-of-expression-when-verbal-skills-fail/