|
e-Book with over
40 minutes of Video Sessions
"A Guide for Creative Expression Activities"
Working with Seniors
with Early to Moderate Dementia symptoms
Dalia Gottlieb-Tanaka, PhD
Founder of The Society
for the Arts in Dementia Care
“Based on research and personal experience, the award-winning program of
creative expression activities is designed to improve the quality of
life for people with dementia”
Awards from:
Alzheimer Society of Canada
The American Society on Aging & MetLife Foundation
|
 |
Learn how to develop your own Creative Expression Activities
Program
The program touches on various topics such as growing up, friendship,
the waltz, pets, beauty, love and seasons of the year. Topics can be
drawn from various sources, such as the seniors themselves, literature
on aging, life review and reminiscing, and various events in the care
facility. I make a special effort to select topics that are relevant to
the seniors in the group. By linking life experiences and the interests
of the seniors, we increase their ability to stay engaged in the program
activities.
“A
must-see for those new to the field of activities for seniors or
those wanting to improve their technique with a new approach.
Following Dalia's recommendations and modelling her engaging style you
will develop a caring, creative and fun activity.”
Debbie Cossover, Activity
Co-ordinator, L’Chaim Adult Day Centre
“Fabulous! Superb Visuals!! Extremely engaging !!!
This e-Book shows how a variety of creative arts can be used to make
contact and encourage self expression with a person with dementia
symptoms;
painting, music, dance, verbal/non-verbal interaction.
I felt like I was there. The simple to use videos drew me in as a visual
learner, and it felt like such an honour to actually witness this
precious work Dalia has done.
I liked the videos being part of the e-Book. The video segments brought
the words to life and validated their meaning.”
Kim Brame, Director, Music
on the Move, President, Music Therapy Association of BC
About the Author
Dalia Gottlieb-Tanaka received her doctorate degree at the University of
British Columbia in the Individual Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate
Program and in the Institute of Health Promotion Research. She graduated from the
Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design in Jerusalem in 1976, and received a
Master of Architecture degree from the University of British Columbia,
School of Architecture in 1980.
The Creative Expression Activities Program she conceived and developed
for seniors with dementia won an award from the American Society on
Aging and the MetLife Foundation. She has presented workshops
demonstrating the program in the US and Canada.
Dalia founded the Society for the Arts in Dementia Care in British
Columbia and she is the moving force behind the annual conferences on
creative expression, communication and dementia
care
(CECD).
In 2003, Dalia curated an exhibition of artwork produced by the seniors
with dementia she worked with. More than 4,000 people from all walks of
life visited the show at The Ferry Building Gallery in West Vancouver.
e-Book Main Menu
Building
Blocks
·
Why creativity and creative expression are important
·
Creative expression – Birth of a program
·
Setting the stage
·
Getting to know the
seniors
The
Progam
·
Session Model
·
Guidelines
·
How do you know if the session is
successful?
Activities in
Action
·
Art activities: The birds
·
Discussions: Good versus bad
·
Writing poems: Friendship
·
Music & Dancing
The main goal of this program is to improve the quality of life for
seniors with dementia. Through it, I can help caregivers by providing
additional tools for communicating with seniors. In the program of
Creative Expression Activities, these seniors have the opportunity to
speak for themselves, and to be heard. They are able to reflect on their
life experiences and enjoy the moment of being engaged in creative
expression, regardless of their difficulties.
I am reluctant to use words such as “limitations” and “remaining
abilities” when trying to describe the abilities of seniors in
redefining themselves through creative expression. In my program I have
witnessed some wonderful moments of self-expression that totally
contradict what the 'outside world' expects of seniors with early to
moderate dementia
symptoms. If I had not filmed some sessions, I would have had a
very difficult time explaining what these seniors were actually capable
of achieving, once we give them an opportunity to be engaged in
appropriate activities with appropriate challenges.
I was delighted to discover the findings on frontal lobe dementia by Dr.
Bruce Miller and his colleagues, and how this condition may contribute
to a temporary release of creativity. Not only were these abilities
released, they were also enhanced.
I soon found myself engaged in very rewarding activities, where I was on
the receiving end. The learning and the discoveries were mutual. I was
interacting with the seniors as an artist, facilitator, friend, peer,
student, educator – and, later, as a researcher.
In this e- Book guide, I present some examples of sessions that were
most successful in stimulating and encouraging seniors with dementia to
interact with me as a facilitator and with each other. Although the
sessions are planned, the program leaves plenty of room for variations
from all the individuals involved. Being flexible, respectful and
responsive to the needs of the moment are key elements that contribute
to a successful program.
These examples are based mostly on my work with groups of seniors in
their 70s and over, with various cognitive and physical abilities. The
groups usually consisted of five to eight seniors and at times grew to
12 seniors with the help of an assistant. The Program of Creative
Expression Activities was carried out in various settings, with equal
success, by summer students I trained and continues to be implemented by
trained caregivers in various communities in North America.
The Program Objectives:
·
to provide an opportunity for expressing and sharing personal life
experiences
·
to increase social interaction and decrease isolation
·
to encourage creative self-expression
·
to increase well-being, a sense of fulfillment, achievement and
enjoyment, and to decrease agitation
“I was very impressed with the training e-Book. You have created
something, which is user friendly, applicable and very do-able.
The information is presented in a clear, uncomplicated manner. Your use
of video to exemplify the text provides the user with immediate visual
explanations of the program. Using the written and audio/visual formats
together helps the information to stick in the user's brain.
I like the way you place the tables in your programs to enable you to
look eye to eye with your participants, and to touch them, and to
observe them.
The lady in the discussion video who tells you that her husband tells
her she has dementia is amazing! That group was so open with you. And
they were making so much sense. If you showed this to people who think
dementia is the end of the road, they would change their tune."
That session was very powerful. The level of trust that you have with
those folks must be built up over time. Time and effort must be spent to
establish a relationship between participants and the caregiver. One
can't just put folk together and expect such successful outcomes with
out taking the time."
Jeanne Sommerfield, BC
Activities Co-ordinators Association
“The videos give a good feel for each session.
They are delightful!
Congratulations on an inspirational work. I like Sylvia's comment:
“painting is more important than painting.” The same message seems to
apply to your whole program: engaging is more important than the
specific activity. Art and discussion happen to be convenient vehicles,
stimulating outlets from needs that tend to be neglected or suppressed
in seniors with dementia.
The
activity videos give a good feel for each session without being filled with
redundancies. They are delightful, show the actual program at work. By
giving these concrete illustrations, you provide potential users with
real concrete expectations about what they can (should not) expect from
their sessions.”
Dr. Peter Graf, Professor
and Head of the Memory & Cognitive Lab
Department of Psychology,
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
The
Dementia activities
CD e-Book package includes a step by step instruction guide with
over 40 minutes of demonstration videos.
We think you will be completely satisfied with your CD e-Book but should
you want to return it to us for any reason within 90 days, you will
receive a full refund (shipping excepted)
To purchase your
dementia activity
e-book
"Guide for Creative Activities for Working with Seniors with Early to
Moderate Dementia”
with
over 40 minutes of Video demonstrations sessions included for
$69.95
click on the following BUY NOW button.
This button will take you to a secure PayPal site to complete your
purchase with any major credit card or use your Paypal account.
© Copyright 2006 by Dalia Gottlieb-Tanaka
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the written prior permission of the author. Contact the author
at daliagt@shaw.ca
|
|
