Potential of Creative Arts in Caring for Dementia People - Essay Example

Introduction This paper targets to explore the relationship between engagement of creative arts and health outcomes (Goulding, 2013). It is important to note that Dementia is a condition that results in frequent memory loss or chronic forgetfulness. It has been noted that creative arts can be well incorporated in offering therapy for people with dementia. One best example of a dementia is the Arizona disease commonly denoted as (AD) (Tim, 2013). Globally, it has been noted that there are substantially more institutions currently employing art to manage people’s wellbeing. However, there have been doubts on possibilities of incorporating creative arts based approach in offering alternative therapies to older people in the health sector (Goulding, 2013). The approach of this discussion will be highlighting use of a creative art in offering therapy to dementia, how it is implemented, possible outcomes and acceptability of the strategy by the players. Discussion It is estimated that 670000 people in United Kingdom live with dementia and this number is likely to hit 1 million in ten years time (Bolton, 2012). Due to these high numbers, various mechanisms to combat the disease need to be explored. It is to this effect that creative arts is used extensively in caring for dementia patients but seem to lack proper framework (Bolton, 2012). This paper will explore and discus how creative arts can be used to treat dementia and its impacts on society networks and participation. However, it is revealed that many people including the medical personnel have criticized the importance of creative arts in the therapy. Enhancing social networks in the context of dementia care The use of creative arts based approaches in health sector is a fast growing strategy which is mostly used in dementia therapy. Notable to mention is that, incorporation of the creative arts approaches has been noted much to be very effective. This is precisely because it manages to improve the well being of older people living with dementia (Condren, 2001). Under this umbrella, people living with dementia can now combat loneliness, problems of isolation and depression through creative arts based therapy (Goulding, 2013).this is because creative arts is more involving, you need people to work it out. The social engagement is very important in eliminating loneliness and isolation. Role of music therapy According to the global statistics, approximately 24.3 million people worldwide do live with dementia and to be more specific the Alzheimer’s disease AD (Goulding, 2013). In most countries, the disease poses a major public concern. Due to these huge numbers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, it is considered that the support for these patients be a global initiative. There is need to employ multidisciplinary and global approach in combating the disease therapy (Goulding, 2013). Therapy may include use of pharmacological or non-pharmacological materials incorporated with occupational and artistic activities (Goulding, 2013). Creative arts based approach known as music therapy is one of the greatest non-pharmacological approach used in managing Alzheimer’s disease (Poewe, 2008). This is because; music therapy employs various components during the treatment. Such measures involve the use of sound, rhythm, melodies and harmony (Poewe, 2008). Notable to mention is that for music therapy to commence, there must be a musical professional therapist to work with Alzheimer’s disease patients throughout the session. The main objective of the music therapy is to facilitate toward increased communication, learning, social relationship, expression, mobilisation and organisation among the AD patients (Down, 2013). Moreover, music therapy also targets to meet physical, social, emotional, mental and cognitive needs of that AD patients (Down, 2013). It requires more than two individuals to carry out this therapy. In most cases, therapy occasion are organized to involve the community who join to boost social cohesion among people living with dementia. Additionally, there are various techniques professionals can use to boost social networks using music therapy. The first one is through active music therapy (Down, 2013). This technique involves sound producing objects, musical instruments and voices which are incorporated during therapy session (Mintzer, 1997). The other technique is called receptive music therapy. This constitute of just listening to the radio. Moreover, it has been noted that in most therapies, the trainer normally combines both techniques during therapy sessions (Mintzer, 1997). However, not everybody is conversant with music therapy. Despite the positive impact it develop, it is not guarantee that people living with dementia will embrace music as explained. This is because; there are cases of patients who hate noise. This means music is not an option for therapy on such people. It is also not guaranteed that every time the community shall be joining therapy session to bond with the patients. It is very expensive again hiring a profession to organize for the music session. Visual arts therapy The use of visual arts therapy to manage people living with dementia is another creative arts technique. When it comes to visual arts, the main concept is to work with patients and the same time carrying out a number of visual activities (Kinney and Rentz, 2005). Such activities include drawings and paintings. The visual therapy is a very essential mechanism in identifying hidden characters among patients. This is because the therapy application focused more in diagnosis and assessment of patients’ progress by monitoring practical activities engaged (Kinney and Rentz, 2005). Furthermore, it is absolutely critical to state that visual arts promote non-verbal communication, enhances opportunity for reminiscence, facilitate sensory stimulation and enjoyment (Goulding, 2013). Most patients after engaging more on visual therapy do develop strengthened individual sense of self and courage (Maurer & Carolus, (2005). Notable to mention is that although most medical practitioners don’t prefer much the use of artwork in treating dementia, it has been noted and proved that it is the best. This is because when comparing people living with Alzheimer’s disease who have been undergoing medical therapies to those undergoing art based therapies, it emanate clearly that art is performing well. Contrary to this, the use of the techniques is still strongly criticized. The technique is not tested and its effect cannot be measured to be either positive or negative. Moreover, the security of the participants is not guaranteed (Bogousslavsky & Boller, 2005). For this therapy to work well there must be strict concentration from the side of participants. However, not all will be fit to pay attention to instruction. Again it is difficult for the participant to remember, when given paint and brush, some might use them irrelevantly (eat or throw away) (Bogousslavsky & Boller, 2005). These are some of the reasons that doctors prefer tested and proven strategies with minimum risk to participants. Drama therapy The study of drama therapy as one of the creative arts used in dementia therapy hence it is not well researched on. One of the techniques under drama therapy is story telling. This has been considered to have a huge positive psychological health benefit among people living with dementia (Beard, 2011). This has seen many patients proving an increased status of well being. Drama therapy plays a key role of enabling potentiality for relation which is purported to have numerous psychological health benefits for people living with dementia (Rockwood, 2004). Nevertheless, drama participation has enabled many chronically segregated sick people to also contribute to positive devouring. For example, women with breast cancer have been strongly participating in the drama theatre production (Rockwood, 2004). It is noted that the main objectives of drama art therapy is to come up with interventions that improve the life quality in people living with dementia. Drama is a popular therapy because it entirely incorporate social network. People are invited to join therapy session. Being directly linked to the larger community for example school children and community members has a vital social impact for people living with dementia. Most therapies target boosting self esteem, self integration and also in changing the behaviour of the patient (Beard, 2011). Therefore the methodology employed in the therapy should also conversant with the nature of the patient’s status. This is because it offers wider perspective to consider stimulation and expression attitude among patients. Moreover by engaging patients in performing numerous dramatic activities, therapy also enhances health status of cognitive aging and well being (Beard, 2011). This also includes engaging patients in active experience when they are involved in activities. Activities such as miming, storytelling, role play, objective work, games and plays are very interesting and important since they empower people living with dementia (Beard, 2011). The concept behind this is the fact that playful activities promote sense of participatory among patients and social cohesion that leads to desired outcomes. Dramatic therapy like story telling also helps therapists in understanding the inner feeling of people living with dementia. Some tend to story tell on how they feel and doctors can have a hence to assess patients progress. There is also the time slips program of dramatic therapy which introduces fictional stories based on group stream of consciousness (Gross, Danilova, Vandehey & Diekhoff, 2013). As an objective, dramatic therapy has been hailed for its contribution towards improving communication skills. To add on this it has also contributed on improving staff-resident relationships in a skilled nursing setting (Gross et al, 2013). It has been noted that dramatic therapy has mainly contributed in advocating and enhancing personhood. It is clear that dramatic therapy focus more on enhancing subjective experiences rather than promoting cognitive skills as perceived in music therapy (Gross et al, 2013). Moreover art therapy has also ensured that patients acquire improved quality life. This could effectively be achieved via stimulation of social skills development, sense of independence, self belief and self-esteem (Richter and Brigitte, 2004). Dramatic therapy has also been declared to be less medicalized as compared to music therapy. This is because it appears to focus more on communicative potential of performance (Richter and Brigitte, 2004). The approach occurs with accompaniment of minimum clinical association. However, it is critically challenged that there is no mechanism to assess progress the patient is undergoing. It is also very expensive to engage people and invite professionals to engage the participants throughout the session. Dance/movement therapy A survey conducted in 37 countries on the relevancy of dance/ movement therapy in treating dementia has confirmed common positive sentiments. It is revealed that dance therapy is as important as the other art therapies since it combines the art of dance with the science of health (Beard, 2011). All this interventions aim at helping people living with dementia realizes their worth. Therapists conducting the dance therapy have in most cases reported positive outcomes. Dance/movement therapy contributes much in reducing agitation and promotes self care and improved cognitive performance (Tsuji, 2005). In addition to this, dance therapy also aims at promoting procedural learning. When people living with dementia are taken through a standard dance or movement, they learn how to intergrade all the moves altogether (Tsuji, 2005). The use of dance and movement therapy also exposes people living with Dementia to explore the non-verbal mode of communication. This is exhibited on patients who cannot speak but can dance very well to a tune. This is another very important option that helps People living with dementia to regain lost skills and knowledge. Furthermore, they can even revive back their lost mode of conversation. This is contrary to medical therapy which mostly focuses on drugs and limit communication advocacy (Grant, 2012). Another very important advantage of using the dance/movement therapy in treatment of dementia is that it focuses more on the enjoyment and enrichment of the patient (Woods and Piacentini, 2007). This is contrary to medical therapy that focuses mainly on the outcomes or product of therapy. In summary, it is relevant to mention that when employing this therapy there is much less involvement of biomedical interventions. Dance/movement therapy of dementia focuses more on performance. With this effect, many positive benefits are transpired throughout the process of performance (Woods and Piacentini, 2007). This relatively imposes a sense of self encouragement and social interaction among patients with dementia. Negative to the use of medical intervention is the fact that many patients don’t embrace dancing. Many participants are old people with possible difficulty in standing and movement. It is ironical to engage such people in a hip hop dance. Mixed or miscellaneous art therapy This specifically relates to various creative arts techniques that are used together during therapy session. Doll therapy, alternative methods of reminiscence, multisensory experiences and combinational therapies are some of the categories of mixed therapies (Phillips and Reid, 2010). It is noted that one intervention is never enough when carrying out therapy for dementia. This is because, these people do not only suffer from cognitive impairments but also suffer physical, emotional and social concerns as well (Hubbard, 2012). To begin with, occupational therapies carried out on people with dementia is normally achieved under combined environmental modification, adaptive aids, problem solving strategies skill training and carer training strategies (Kira, 2013). By combining all this strategies, it is easier for therapist to succeed. This is meant to promote individual independence by incorporation various strategies. Among the strategies that aim at promoting independence is toileting. This is a very important issue that therapists use to measure level of self independence among patients (Kira, 2013). It is at this point that patient’s cognitive, physical and sensory ability reveal effective response to therapy. If not, then more intervention could be explored. To begin with, the doll therapy is currently being employed for patients with difficult behaviours. This is because doll therapy has very little empirical data and has always been used inconsistently (Kontos, 2005). Such patients show observable characteristics like; agitation, distress, social withdrawal and even communication difficulties (Kontos, 2005). Notable to mention is the fact that dolls when used as a tool of reminiscence has a very huge impact. It has been revealed that dolls could easily develop therapeutic bond with people living with dementia. This bond helps the patient in developing pro-social behaviours and engages more in remembering how to live with people (Hara, Mariko, 2012). Furthermore, the doll therapy also helps in enhancing and stimulating communication (Hara, Mariko, 2012). This is evident when the patient tries to speak to the doll and tell it what he/she feels. Nevertheless, many critics have germinated and posed out negativity of using doll therapy.it is criticized that despite the positive impact doll therapy has on dementia, it is demeaning and reducing patients to the child level. Many people support the therapy outcomes but the aspect of treating old people like children, playing with dolls is lowering their dignity (Daniel, 2010). In addition, it is also noted in some dementia cases that people become so obsessed with the dolls such that it is prioritized first. For example, when it comes to sleep, the doll is offered the whole bed so that it could have a good night sleep. This means that the person will have to sleep down or in a couch. This is not a positive impact as far as the doll therapy is concerned (Daniel, 2010). The other mixed therapy alternative method is reminiscence. This therapy specifically aims at attaining the potential of exposing pleasure among participants (David and Lang, 2002). This therapy has various ways of accomplishing its objectives. When verbal mode of communication during reminiscence fails, most therapists have an option of using stickers to tell stories (Kontos, 2005). There is also the option of incorporation of music within the reminiscence session. The use of music only emphasis and improve participant attention toward the therapy. Moreover, incorporating music also enhances sense of pride, reduce social isolation, minimize personal loss and improve group communication (Steve and Tamar, 2013). Reminiscence can also be attained by playing past memories via movies or audio tapes (Steve, 2012). This was researched and found to be very effective in developing personal effectiveness and well being (Steve, 2012). In another incidence, photographs were also found to be very effective when telling a story. This is because it is difficult to ever forget a picture rather than audio information. In another discussion, it emanates that use of mixed therapies has more impact in changing people living with dementia lifestyles. To elaborate on this, use of songs, poetry, writing, singing and dances effectively help in improving quality of life and empowering the participants (Douglas, James & Ballard, 2004). Contrary to this, the only limitation to this therapy is the fact that there is no way to measure patient’s progress. To this effect, creative arts therapeutic techniques are best known of improving social cohesion and interaction. However, they don’t have a developed mechanism for measuring the outcomes and evaluation techniques (Chen, 2010). Activity-based intervention Among the activity based intervention is the one voice art and drumming. This intervention aims at creating direct involvement of people living with Dementia during the session. It also aims at uniting participants together with the community. Moreover, inclusion of little children in such events also helps in reverting memory of people living with Dementia. More importantly is the aspect where such activity based intervention help in eliminating cultural barriers among the patients (Bolton, 2012). The art should be interesting to attract attention of everybody. The vocal arts and drumming should be done in groups composed of patients, community and care staffs. This unification develops a positive feedback on the patient’s social status. There is also need to involve the dementia people to do solo performance as a measure of initiating self confidence and courage (Parker, 2006). It is not easy to manage and effectively expect dementia participant to oblige to the instructions offered. Measuring the level of improvement is difficult since such attitude die immediately the session is over. Creative design: Design for living It is important to note that design of the residence for people living with dementia can also contribute to their positive attitude development. The room where the patient stays should be arranged in a manner that can encourage all activities of daily living (Jerry, 2005). This is creative arts. The design should demonstrate clear link between the environment, activity and care given (Jerry, 2005). There is also need to ensure that overcrowding of patients in one place should be minimized. Moreover, creativity in design has to be exhibited when preparing and arranging accommodation for people living with dementia. (Bolton, 2012) The room must be safe, small, be simple with good visualisation (Bolton, 2012). The designer has to ensure that there is reduced visual stimulation, provide privacy and also link it to the community (Bolton, 2012). Community involvement is also very important for dementia therapy. There is need to incorporate the residence living together with people with dementia an opportunity to serve them. Duties like laundry, cooking and meals preparation can be done by neighbours. This will assure people living with dementia of safe surrounding and social acceptance (Bolton, 2012). Humour therapy Therapists and doctors have verified that humour and fun is another strategy that helps in realization of selfless among patients with dementia. People living with dementia have to be happy and enjoy everything. Humour aid in keeping cognitive skills alert and also minimize stress and depression (Bolton, 2012). In addition to this humour has also been linked to reduce anxiety and improve the mood of the person (Bolton, 2012). It also aid in promoting communication since people laugh after the humorous person cracks a joke. This means that those people must first listen to the joke before laughing. (Bolton, 2012) However, there is caution on humour therapy. Humour therapy must be conducted by trained performers (Bolton, 2012). This should be observed to avoid situation where jokes evoke negative impact on patients. Professional performers should be able to work together with care staff that will be able to incorporate humour in all events and control the mood of the patients all time (Christine, Dhoyen and Maggie, 2012). Case study In a real case study of dementia, a 78 years olds man started weird character. He started forgetting essential and normal routine like washing the face and teeth in the morning before breakfast. The problem started worsening when one day he left his home and got lost. His memory started failing, he never cared about risks and he developed disorientation (Christine, Dhoyen and Maggie, 2012). As time went by, he became more vulnerable and one time woke up and left the house in the middle of the night. This was not all, he was spotted severally talking to strangers and telling them where he lived and that he was living alone. When the attempts to retain him at home failed, the family took him to the hospital where he was admitted. There was no family history of dementia. When he arrived in the hospital, he was very frightened as to why he was not at his home he lived for over 20 years. He started developing negative attitude toward people around him as the root cause as to why he was in hospital. In the hospital, he was immediately adopted with the helping strategies that were recommended for managing behaviour (Christine, Dhoyen and Maggie, 2012). The strategies were meant to reduce the persons feeling of uncomfortable and fear symptoms that are very popular at these early stages of dementia (Luxarycare, 2012). There was need of alerting the family members not to expose weaknesses of the patient since it could lower self esteem and result to severe character. Within a period of four weeks of close therapy, his behaviour started changing due to the therapy technique employed and he started feeling better. His memory recalled trusted family members and he was less uncomfortable. He started helping with work at home and was respected by everyone. Light work at the garden was his favourite and days went by living positively with dementia. Conclusion In summary, it is clear from the above discussion that not only medication could offer proper solution and therapy to dementia. People should embrace creative arts and employ all the strategies discussed in managing patients with dementia. Those people just need love and a sense of affection towards them. They need to be assured that what they have lost is nothing compared to the love everybody has for them. Engaging them in numerous fun creative events will make them feel back in the ages (Saburo, 2012). It is again clear the use of creative arts alone is not enough. There are loopholes in the techniques which if ignored can result to zero work or even worse condition. To this effect, it is the mandate of the entire government and the society at large to ensure that dementia people are well taken care of. Criticizing alone is not helpful. Researchers should come on board and research on combined intervention that will include medical and non-medical therapy for dementia that has limited negativity. The government roles can be to develop laws and regulation that manage dementia conditions (Kontos, 2005). The government can invest in building rehabilitation centre well equipped with skill professional to manage the institutions. The community on the other hand have a role to play. They need to demonstrate to people living with dementia that they are still part of the community. This can be demonstrated by volunteering to serve them and joining them in creative visual arts programmes. References Beard, R., 2011. Art Therapies and Dementia Care: A Systematic Review. Usage Publication, 11, 633. Bogousslavsky, J., & Boller, F., 2005. Neurological disorders in famous artists. University of Exeter, 2, 245. Bolton, J., 2012. Dementia and the Use of Creative Arts to Maintain Personhood. Accessed on March 4, 2014, from http://www.wcmt.org.uk/reports/996_1.pdf. Chen, L., 2010. Concise review: Can stem cells be used to treat or model Alzheimer's disease? Stem cells. Dayton, Ohio, 12, 2612. Christine, B., Dhoyen, R., and Maggie, N., 2012. 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