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Creativity and communication in persons with dementia : a practical guide

This work explores the potential of creativity in supporting personhood and identity in people living with a diagnosis of dementia. The publication presents an evidenced-based approach to the subject area while also exploring the practical application of a range of creative media including photography, textiles, sculpture, drama, and creative writing. The book has also been translated into German.

The publication proposes that artistic creativity can be co-constructed with people throughout the dementia journey across the spectrum. Researchers from within the dementia community have subsequently suggested that the book ‘pushes the boundaries around prehistoric assumptions that people with dementia are unable to express themselves creatively […] and takes the concept of creativity to a new level’ (Ageing and Society 2012).

Research undertaken in relation to the publication led to invitations to contribute the chapter ‘Creativity outdoors’, the publication ‘Transforming the Quality of Life for People With Dementia Through Contact With the Natural World’ (2011), and a paper ‘Why Dementia and Creativity Go Together’ to the Journal of Dementia Care, Gilliard J. and Marshall M. (2011). Interest in this work has led to invitations to be part of an expert advisory panel to the Department of Health and to the National Association of Writers in Education roundtable discussion: Working as an artist with people with dementia.

Invited presentations relating to the research underpinning this text include: invited Keynote 'Creativity and Connectivity in Dementia' at 5th International Conference on Ageing and Spirituality, 2013; invited presentation at Alzheimer Scotland, 2010; invited Keynote 'Holding a rainbow in our hands: creative approaches to working with people with dementia' presentation to the Maltese Association of Occupational Therapists, 2009; invited keynote 'The arts and dementia care' at the National Congress of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Lisbon, Portugal, 2008.