Meet me at the museum...The unifying effect of art

Cultural Action for Alzheimer

68 rue des Plantes

75014 Paris, France

Mai 12, 2016

Acting together for a global outreach of another perspective on Alzheimer’s

Dear donor,

Thank you so much for your generosity! We are very touched that you have chosen to support our cause.

The demand is immense:

There are an estimated 5.5 million Americans living with Alzheimer's dementia in 2017; an estimated 5.3 million are age 65 and older. Almost two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer's are women. Because of the increasing number of people age 65 and older in the United States, particularly the oldest-old, the number of new cases of Alzheimer's and other dementias is projected to soar. In 2016, 15.9 million family and friends provided 18.2 billion hours of unpaid assistance to those with Alzheimer's and other dementias.

Going Virtual, going global through Technology:

In 2016, the association finalized the concept of a website offering virtual visits which permits patients to experience visits at home, accompanied by a trained family member or community service volunteer, and thus dramatically expands the scope of the help brought by the association, even to those who are home-bound because of geographical, mobility, or other health challenges.  The caregiver providing the accompaniment can easily manipulate the basic computer interactions required.  

Each virtual visit includes the guided progressive discovery of four works of art, each in photographic format. This discovery occurs through a series of carefully adapted open questions, comments, explanations of key artistic symbols.  The cultural, anthropological, historical, and/or artistic context is given, which allow the patient to concentrate on the structural elements of a work, and thereby to develop for themselves the meaning or significance of that work.   

Benefits to caregivers:

• Requires no prior knowledge of art by either the patient or the caregiver
• With basic computer skills provides easily managed, enjoyable, adapted, and structured activity to be shared with the patient
• Motivating and purposeful activity is not perceived as a “chore”
• Provides an indirect training for better adapted methods of communication with the patient
• Provides an alternative to negative or frustrating social interactions, through validation, the stimulation of verbal exchange, and affective retrieval of the patient’s personal long-term memories and associations.
• The visits are rich in content and stimulating to the caregiver
• Wide range of choices on the website mean that visits can be adapted to personal tastes and done frequently without repetition.
• Intervention can be done one-on-one or in small groups, at home or in an institutional setting, wherever there is internet connection. 
• Unlike the production of art, requires no additional supplies or space, just a computer and internet connection
• Caregivers note that patients tend to show improved mood and cooperation, as well as a reduction in negative behavioral symptoms.

Testimonialy from a volunteer :

“People were smiling, talking, and sharing with us. It was an intense moment of exchange. They were perfectly able to communicate with the others. The disease was not visible anymore; it was amazing. I know now that older people often feel suffering but don’t express it. You need to reach out to them, ask how they’re doing, and get them to talk about themselves, about what they feel. Their way of seeing the paintings was different from mine and that other way of seeing taught me something. Words are not everything; communication can be by touch, by sharing – eating a cookie together or looking at a photo album or going shopping. I want to de-dramatize the way people look at Alzheimer's disease and tell others about it”.

If you wish, we would be pleased to invite you to take part in our annual meetings or to receive your opinion and testimony about the disease, our experience and our association.

We will post regularly on the website final reports of actions we have done with all the donations we receive.

Warmly

Cindy Barotte

Director of the ARTZ Association

For more information about the association here is the link to our website: http://www.actionculturellealzheimer.org/