The Impact of Creative Movement with Persons living with Dementia
As Singapore faces an increase in its ageing population, dementia can no longer be treated as an individual’s neurological ailment. Instead, the sociological structures that pose challenges in caring for persons with dementia need to be addressed. Person-centered care and positive person work are theoretical approaches to change institutional structures towards the recognition of personhood in persons with dementia.
In this study, creative movement interventions carried out with persons who have mild to moderate dementia created opportunities for positive person work to take place, positing limited but possible improvements in participant well-being and reduced perceptions of burden of care among care-givers. A total of 13 potential participants were gathered at the start of the creative movement interventions which comprised of 8 weekly sessions lasting an hour, held between April to June 2015 at the Changi General Hospital, conducted by The Arts Fission Company Ltd.
The clinical study was carried out by the Community Psychogeriatrics Programme (CPGP) of CGH, which helps bridge the transition of care into the homes by providing home-based clinical visits for older patients with mental problems. Non-pharmacological approaches goes hand-in-hand with pharmacological ways of optimizing the well-being of the persons with dementia and minimizing the carers’ stress. CPGP also provides training, consultation and support for community eldercare agencies in their management of persons with dementia. There is an emphasis on the personhood of the individuals being cared forth, creating positive attitude among the care staff and adapting an environment that is dementia-friendly built to enhance the day-today living experiences of the person with dementia.
Community Cultural Development (Singapore) secured funding for the creative movement programme and coordinated the research exercise together with Arts Fission and the CPGP team at CGH. The research report can be downloaded from the link below: