Artist’s Commission - Arts & Dementia Care
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Commissioner:
Cowper Care
Managed by
Create
the national development agency for collaborative arts
in social and community contexts
December 2012
ABOUT COWPER CARE
Cowper Care Ltd is a charity, owned and operated by the United Church of Ireland
Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough. We provide care to older people on an interdenominational basis determined by need, including
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Respite Care
Day Care
Extended Care
Dementia Care
Sheltered Independent Living
We have a number of centres where we provide quality, comprehensive care to
residents, with dignity and compassion.
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Rathmines
Kilternan
Thurles
Baldoyle
We offer accommodation for 44 residents in Gascoigne House, Rathmines, including
a secure 12-bed area specific to Dementia Care. It has an urban setting next to its
sister charity The Mageough Home with its stunning grounds. The nursing home is
situated next to the Cowper Luas stop. A residents and visitors committee
encourages communication between residents, their families and staff.
www.cowpercare.ie
ABOUT CREATE
Create is the national development agency for collaborative arts in social and
community contexts. We provide advice and support services to artists and arts
organisations collaborating with communities, including
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artists across all artforms – traditional and contemporary
arts in social contexts – health, older people, people with disabilities, cultural
diversity, and justice settings
communities of place/location or brought together by common interests
Create supports artists in an open-ended approach to the artistic process and art
making – as co-creators with different partners and audiences. We encourage ways
of making art that take place primarily outside of the traditional gallery or theatre
space.
Collaborative arts is a dynamic and contemporary form of arts practice. Related and
similar ways of working - linked to the concept of relational aesthetics – include
participatory arts, socially engaged arts and community arts. Collaborative arts
practice plays with and contests notions of authorship and the idea of the artistgenius. Work that is made collaboratively can be interdisciplinary, for example
involving a musician working with a visual artist or an architect with a dance artist.
Create seeks to foster current and future potential for collaboration between artists
and communities, encouraging art projects that reflect the exciting ways in which
collaborative arts represent a complex range of ideas and approaches.
Artists and arts organisations working collaboratively with communities of place and
/or interest is widely seen as one of the most vibrant and challenging areas of arts
practice, requiring skills of negotiation and project management. The exploratory
processes and practices of collaborative arts demand different approaches to
traditional definitions of art, artists and arts development.
Create responds to these demands by offering a range of services for artists and arts
organisations which include Professional Development and Advisory Sessions,
Learning Development and Create engages in partnerships on initiatives that support
and develop collaborative arts practice across all artforms.
www.create-ireland.ie
ABOUT DEMENTIA
Dementia is a broad term used to describe a group of symptoms and a range of
progressive disorders that affect the brain. These include impairment in memory,
intellect, judgment, language, insight and deterioration in social skills. The individual
diagnosed with dementia may also demonstrate an acute sensitivity to his or her built
and social environment and a high level of stress.
While over 100 different diseases will produce the symptoms of dementia,
Alzheimer's Disease is the most common cause and accounts for more than 50% of
all cases. Other common causes include vascular brain disease (Multi-Infarct or
Vascular Dementia), mixed dementia (Alzheimer's Disease and Vascular Dementia)
and Lewy Body's Disease.
The incidence of dementia increases with age. At the age of 65, 5% of people are
likely to have dementia, at 80, the incidence increases to 20% and at 85, and
approximately 25% of people will have a dementia. For someone in their 90's the risk
of developing dementia is 50 times greater than that of someone in their 60's
(Gilleard, 2000).
Symptoms include impaired memory, disorientation, poor concentration, difficulty in
naming and the use of language, impaired ability to learn or recall learnt information,
difficulty with motor skills and coordination, difficultly with thinking and in
understanding or following a sequence.
The significant cognitive impairments caused by dementia can be accompanied by
personality and mood changes in the individual and changes in their judgement.
Sleep disturbance is a symptom shared by all neurodegenerative illnesses. In care
homes improved sleep patterns and positive impacts on the circadian rhythms can
help to reduce challenging behaviour.
In recent years, attention has being paid to understanding the subjective experience
of persons with dementia and to developing appropriate services to respond.
Conventional beliefs about the disease and its management have been re-examined
and a new focus has been placed on using a person-centred approach to care. This
emphasises the uniqueness of the individual rather than the signs and symptoms of
dementia. The advantage is that it highlights how an individual can be helped or
enabled and how the environment can be made more appropriate for their needs
and improving quality of life.
REFERENCES
Dementia Services Information and Development Centre - http://www.dementia.ie
Dementia Services Development Centre, University of Stirling www.dementia.stir.ac.uk
Living with Dementia Research Programme - http://www.socialworksocialpolicy.tcd.ie/livingwithdementia/
A national arts and health website developed by the Waterford Healing Arts Trust
(WHAT) and Create with support from the Arts Council - www.artsandhealth.ie
The Arts Council has developed a five-year strategy and recognises the complexity
of the arts and health sector and the many stakeholders involved in its development http://www.artscouncil.ie/en/publications/policy.aspx
Create
2 Curved Street
Dublin 2
Tel (01) 4736600
[email protected]