"Yep, That's My Mom": Artwork and Social Relations in a Memory Care Unit

Background and Purpose: Persons living with dementia (PLWDs) can be disempowered both by symptoms of the disease and other people’s reactions to their disease. Responding to this population’s needs can require intensive and skilled care, potentially focusing primarily on biomedical challenges rather than the full person with dementia. It is important to consider non-pharmaceutical approaches to dementia care, as pharmaceutical treatments serving this population have resulted in modest benefits toward slowing disease progression.

Art activities are a therapeutic intervention for persons with dementia, but the importance of relationships in these activities remains inadequately addressed. Existing research on art activities for PLWDs measures change over time within a person (Deshmukh et al., 2018). This study focuses on the social and relational aspect of personhood and the role of institutional and structural circumstances in these activities.

The purpose of this study was to understand practices of art activities with PLWDs and the social world in which they occur, and how activities can shape personhood.

Methods: This poster presents a case study of artwork made by a PLWD involved in a 14-month ethnographic study of art engagement and social interactions in a memory care unit and adult day center in Metro Detroit. The artwork was selected to demonstrate the potential for art making and viewing to impact social relations among PLWDs, family, and facility staff. The larger study included 360 hours of participant observation, 24 participants living with dementia, and 25 in-depth semi-structured family and staff caregiver interviews.

Data analysis included triangulating field notes, interviews with a family caregiver and facility staff, and an object biography to iteratively identify themes and constructs.

Results: Data analysis showed two main themes and one main underlying construct: 1) Art activity practices involved multiple ways to support the resident to make choices and express preferences, addressing her ongoing decision-making capacity. This included dividing the activity into multiple steps, providing a range of materials, and offering adaptive tools. 2) Artwork impacted social relations outside of the art activity, leading to more care collaboration between family and facility staff. Shared sociality facilitated by the activities suggested a construct of residents as active contributors to social situations, both among themselves and with staff.

Conclusions and Implications: This study increases understanding of how art activities can support PLWDs through recognizing their ongoing personhood. Art activities designed for adaptability and flexibility support PLWDs to express their decision-making capacity and contribute to their community. Activities focusing on persisting abilities and improved relations between this population and family and facility care providers will lead to higher quality care that supports the full person in dementia. Lastly, stigma toward this population can be reduced through additional understanding of ongoing abilities of PLWDs in art and social interaction. Knowledge of how non-pharmacological therapies offered in care facilities, such as art activities, contribute to well-being is increasingly relevant given the growing populations of PLWDs.

Deshmukh, S. R., Holmes, J., & Cardno, A. (2018). Art therapy for people with dementia (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 9, 1-27.