EP 108 :: Entering the World of Dementia Patients Through Art :: Siobhan McDonald
Bobbi & Mike chat with professional artist and Certified Dementia Practitioner, Siobhan McDonald, about her work connecting and communicating with dementia patients. With the use of art and photographs as a means to engage someone with memory loss, Siobhan is able to draw on the person’s creativity and imagination to trigger special memories. With humility, compassion and respect, she shows us how we can more effectively encourage those living with dementia to express their unique stories and experiences.
In this episode, Siobhan McDonald shares techniques that can help recapture memories of those with dementia--as well as create along the way--by spending quality time looking at photographs, artwork or even reading a book together. Her gentle, curious spirit helps patients come alive through tapping into old memories and engaging their creativity and imaginations. Siobhan gives us the guidance that instead of futilely trying to pull a person with memory loss back to our world, we can meet them where they are--and, if we are lucky—experience more lucid moments with our loved one.
During the show, Siobhan refers to several pieces of artwork she uses with dementia patients. One of these is Doris Lee’s Thanksgiving.
"Through art alone are we able to emerge from ourselves, to know what another person sees of a universe which is not the same as our own and of which, without art, the landscapes would remain as unknown to us as those that may exist on the moon." —Marcel Proust
Find out more about Siobhan on her website and follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
Don't forget to follow, download, and review to share your thoughts about the show!