Comments on: Seniors creative despite dementia http://thethunderbird.ca/2008/05/07/seniors-creative-despite-dementia/ News, analysis and commentary on Vancouver Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:43:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Dementia: Helping those cursed with living only in the moment - The Search http://thethunderbird.ca/2008/05/07/seniors-creative-despite-dementia/comment-page-1/#comment-32738 Dementia: Helping those cursed with living only in the moment - The Search Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:23:23 +0000 http://thethunderbird.ca/blog/2008/05/07/seniors-creative-despite-dementia/#comment-32738 [...] (Painting by Metro Vancouver resident Sylvia Sinclair, 84, suffering with dementia. Her art work was the subject of a fascinating story in TheThunderbird.ca, UBC Journalism News Service) [...] [...] (Painting by Metro Vancouver resident Sylvia Sinclair, 84, suffering with dementia. Her art work was the subject of a fascinating story in TheThunderbird.ca, UBC Journalism News Service) [...]

]]> By: Dr. Dalia Gottlieb-Tanaka http://thethunderbird.ca/2008/05/07/seniors-creative-despite-dementia/comment-page-1/#comment-8649 Dr. Dalia Gottlieb-Tanaka Mon, 12 May 2008 05:41:54 +0000 http://thethunderbird.ca/blog/2008/05/07/seniors-creative-despite-dementia/#comment-8649 Thanks Jessica for an informative article. There are a couple of issues that need to be clarified. My sessions with seniors with dementia are not considered Art Therapy. I just provide a framework or an opportunity for a person with dementia to express himself or herself creatively. It may be theraputic, but not therapy, which aims to restore earlier abilities and bring back what people lost, or make them understand better the reasons for a specific behaviour. In the program I have developed several years ago - The Creative Expression Activities Program, I focus on the enjoyment of the moment and if the activities happened to bring back memeories or hopes for the future, it makes it more interesting but not the most important part of the interaction. Dementia care is a complicated field of knowledge and requires understanding in several areas of expertise. Each area has its own language and expectations of people with dementia. So I have to commend you for taking on this topic and advocate people with demenia by making others aware of the issues these people face. All the best, Dalia In the physchosocial approach to dementia care, we call the seniors as clients. We stay away from the medical model where they become patients and treated as such. Thanks Jessica for an informative article. There are a couple of issues that need to be clarified. My sessions with seniors with dementia are not considered Art Therapy. I just provide a framework or an opportunity for a person with dementia to express himself or herself creatively. It may be theraputic, but not therapy, which aims to restore earlier abilities and bring back what people lost, or make them understand better the reasons for a specific behaviour. In the program I have developed several years ago – The Creative Expression Activities Program, I focus on the enjoyment of the moment and if the activities happened to bring back memeories or hopes for the future, it makes it more interesting but not the most important part of the interaction.
Dementia care is a complicated field of knowledge and requires understanding in several areas of expertise. Each area has its own language and expectations of people with dementia. So I have to commend you for taking on this topic and advocate people with demenia by making others aware of the issues these people face.

All the best,
Dalia

In the physchosocial approach to dementia care, we call the seniors as clients. We stay away from the medical model where they become patients and treated as such.

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