Supporting the Well-Being of People Living With Dementia and Their Family Carers Through Concurrent Arts and Well-Being Community Programs: Qualitative Perspectives of Participants and Facilitators

What is it about?

This article explains how we worked with people living with dementia in the community and their family caregivers to create and trial an arts and wellbeing program of support. We ran separate sessions of art activities for people with dementia and wellbeing sessions for family care givers, which were held at the same time and in the same place. This helped them to relax and feel safe knowing their partner was close by and enjoying the activity. Both the people with dementia and the family caregivers appreciated the time to focus on the activities, to share concerns with others in the same position and to learn more about their own abilities.

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Why is it important?

People with dementia and their family caregivers often feel isolated and stressed which can lead to ill health or poor wellbeing. By providing support to both the person with dementia and the family caregiver we were able to support wellbeing and the ongoing care relationship at home. Our findings showed that by running the separate groups at the same time and in the same place offered the opportunity and peace of mind to address concerns and explore their creative side.

Perspectives