Dementia & Imagination

Funder

AHRC Connected Communities Programme

Webpage

http://dementiaandimagination.org.uk/

Registration number

Project registration number: UKCRN16304

Collaborating Investigators/Institutions:

Dr Gill Windle, Bangor University

Project Summary

Through an integration of inter-disciplinary theoretical, conceptual and methodological approaches the research will explore how the vision for dementia supportive communities might benefit from socially engaged visual arts practice.

Specifically, it will use a visual art intervention as an exemplar and as the catalyst for change, for understanding community connectivity and the promotion of well-being. To achieve this vision, the research is built around this overarching research question: How can visual arts interventions change, sustain and catalyse community cultures, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours to create dementia friendly communities?

It will evaluate the impact of art on people with dementia, and the broader contagion effects it may have. The research adopts a mixed methods approach. This involves quantitative and qualitative approaches for all participants, and for participants with dementia, additional observational measures. The observational design is repeated measures within subjects, with each participant serving as their own control.