Using Art to Overcome Cognitive Barriers

January 4, 2014

Author

  • Elizabeth "Like" Lokon

OMA operates programs at eight other locations in southwestern Ohio, including long-term-care communities and adult-day centers serving about 125 elders and 200 volunteers a year in small-group sessions that take place weekly during the academic year. Because the arts can tap into parts of the brain that tend to be less affected by dementia, there has been a growing interest in recent years in exploring the ways the arts can be used to help reach and engage people with cognitive loss. A number of innovative dementia-arts programs have emerged around the country, employing such art forms as music, theater, storytelling, movement or dance. Opening Minds through Art, which earned a best practice award from LeadingAge Ohio in 2011, is pioneering a way to use visual art with people with memory loss.

LeadingAge Magazine, 4(1).

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Topics

  • Arts and Aging
  • Case Studies/ Qualitative Research