Dementia is becoming a leading cause of disability globally. Dementia affects 50 million people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Every year, ten million new cases are identified.
Dementia is a long-term illness that worsens with time. It’s marked by a decline in cognitive functioning and goes beyond what’s considered a typical part of the aging process. Dementia primarily affects memory, orientation, critical reasoning, understanding, learning capacity, and judgment, but not consciousness.
When it comes to reducing the progression of dementia, many diverse therapeutic strategies have been explored, tested, and evaluated. Although there is no cure for the condition, several studies have shown that art therapy can be helpful.
In this blog, we dig deep into art therapy and its various benefits for those living with dementia.
Art Therapy and Dementia
The healing power of the arts has always been around. However, they have only recently acquired momentum as a legitimate and professional kind of therapy. Because art therapy is still new for caregivers, research into its efficacy in treating Alzheimer’s disease and dementia is still in progress.
Arts therapy was beneficial in treating emotional and behavioral problems connected with cognitive illnesses, according to a comprehensive literature review published in 2014 (1). Arts therapy, however, did not appear to be an effective remedy for cognitive deterioration.
However, using art therapy in a secure atmosphere, supervised by a qualified expert, can still have immediate benefits for patients living with dementia.
Art therapy is a type of psychotherapy that encourages people to express themselves through arts and crafts.
When people are unable to express themselves verbally, art therapy helps them put their emotions and thoughts on paper or other mediums. The creative process, not the result, is the aim. What matters is that it generates happiness or provides a method for the participant to convey what’s on their mind and that it improves self-esteem.
The goals are not to draw to perfection, color inside the lines, or use sophisticated painting or sculpting skills. The basic idea of employing art as therapy is to help your loved one express themselves without the use of words. So, people with developmental disabilities, dementia, or mental health issues may communicate their emotions, ideas and feelings more easily.
Benefits of Art Therapy for People Living With Dementia and Alzheimer’s
Art projects are a pleasant, relaxing way for individuals of all ages to showcase their talents, but they’re especially beneficial for elders suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.
Despite the fact that there is no treatment for dementia, art therapy helps to stimulate in a variety of ways. It has the ability to awaken repressed memories and, in some cases, even inspire speaking.
Art may give you a sense of success and purpose while also allowing you to express yourself in a non-verbal way.
Art therapy activities have been demonstrated in studies to assist persons with dementia to enhance communication, brain function, and social interaction by boosting cognitive function in multiple parts of the brain (2).
The benefits for dementia patients are clearly visible. Participants exhibit improvements in both cognitive and behavioral skills and an increase in confidence.
1. Self-Expression
Persons living with dementia often go silent. That is why arts and the creative process can be such a valuable method for keeping patients and caregivers in touch. People with dementia benefit from art therapy because it allows them to express themselves when they are unable to speak. Art therapy may inspire participation and dialogue in people who are able to talk.
2. Brain Stimulation
Brain senses are stimulated when those living with dementia participate in the creative process. When paired with activities that promote recollection, the experience has the potential to awaken long-forgotten memories. They may recall a cherished picture that formerly hung in their childhood home, a favorite view of nature, a favorite pet, or any other memory. People with dementia can use art therapy to dive into the past and examine the memories they still have access to.
3. Enhanced Memory
Music therapy for those living with Alzheimer’s and dementia works wonders. Music can not only calm somebody who is behaving violently or infuriated but can also evoke their specific memories. There are substantial links between music and memory. I’m sure you can recall a time when you heard a song and it quickly transported you to a different period or place in your life. Even for somebody with dementia, these mental links do not quickly weaken.
4. Boosts Morale and Self-Confidence
Allowing kids to reflect and create teaches them that their lives are important. It helps them establish bonds with others around them.
Similarly, art therapy also provides people with dementia a sense of independence and control over their surroundings. This may also be able to reclaim their sense of self and control by creating. And their major advantages include better sleep, less anxiety and depression symptoms, and more moments of lucidity. This can have a cascading effect, resulting in increased morale and confidence. It benefits both the patient and families, whose spirits get high by even minor victories.
5. Stabilizes Mood Swings
According to observation found after brain scans, when someone looks at various forms of art. It causes a rush of dopamine in the orbitofrontal lobe portion of the brain. The same part of the brain that registers romantic love, desire, tenderness, and pleasure is responsible for this. As a result, when watching art, the physiological pleasure response is instantaneous. Patients in hospitals who were exposed to art reported reduced pain and quicker recovery times.
6. Increase in Social Interaction
When a person is non-communicative or has difficulty speaking, it can be frustrating for them to make connections or communicate with their caretakers and peers. This can lead to social isolation. People with dementia, on the other hand, are offered a fresh avenue to communicate and express their experiences and feelings when they participate in art therapy.
This can aid in closing the communication gap between the patient and the caregiver. It can also help to restore the patient’s desire to communicate and the capacity to develop social relationships that help people feel good about themselves. Also, increased communication leads to more social contact.
When peers collaborate on projects and see each other’s work, they are naturally driven to speak with one another and realize they are never alone in their journeys. It means art therapy furthers the process of social interaction.
7. Reduces Cortisol Levels
The act of creation, irrespective of one’s talent level or the form of art they use, is enough to relieve stress and promote positive sentiments. The stress hormone known as cortisol is reduced when someone gets involved in creating something. One study published in the journal Art Therapy found that 75 percent of those who participated in creating something had lower cortisol levels. The level of cortisol in this experiment was measured before and after 45 minutes of art creation.
8. Acts as a Healthy Outlet to Vent
A person living with dementia sometimes finds it hard to communicate vocally. People with dementia often feel trapped inside their bodies, not able to properly articulate their ideas and feelings. Self-expression in non-verbal formats is possible through exercises such as painting, sketching, sculpting, and games. A person can vent their anger by scribbling it on a canvas. Art acts as a healthy outlet for such feelings, and it may prevent them from hitting a loved one or a caregiver.
9. A Sense of Achievement
Your loved one spend most of their time doing nothing and staying alone. Engaging in art therapy gives them an opportunity to create something. There is nothing more satisfying than watching their pride when they have created something special and amazing. This sense of accomplishment will enhance their confidence in such activities in the future.
10. Helps in Reducing the Burden of Caregivers
It’s difficult to care for those with dementia. This is due to the lack of a written explanation of how the illness proceeds. Furthermore, not everyone will be affected in the same way.
When someone’s communication skills begin to deteriorate, caregivers must look for slight shifts in their behavior.
Caregivers can learn the right measures to follow while providing care based on how the individual acts while participating in various activities with the help of art therapy.
A sudden shift in painting style, for example, might indicate that the disease is progressing.
Closing Thoughts
It is evident that participating in art therapy provides many benefits to people with dementia.
Art activities may assist in improving and developing fine motor abilities through hand and mind coordination, in addition to creating a whole new effective platform for communication and reducing negative emotions.
Because of these advantages, art therapy is now widely acknowledged as an essential aspect of dementia care, and caregivers may now choose from a myriad of art therapy ideas for seniors, each with its own set of benefits.
It can be perplexing and terrifying to lose one’s cognitive abilities and memories. In the midst of this difficult period, art therapy brings joy. Even though the good moments created by art therapy are brief and transitory, they can have a long-term influence on dementia sufferers’ condition and happiness.
Refences
