Every 70 seconds, somebody in the U.S. is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia. Approximately 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer’s. If nothing is done to reverse current trends, we will have a projected 11-16 million Alzheimer’s patients by 2050, according to a new report by the Alzheimer’s Association. [1]
Issues of depression, loneliness, powerlessness, and communication problems can be painful and difficult to deal with. Elders with dementia who do not have an outlet by which to express them are more likely to feel isolated and overpowered by the accompanying emotions. Whether institutionalized or not, seniors can benefit from art therapies and other expressive arts. All humans are creative, but for those living with dementia, that impulse may need to be supported and encouraged by others trained to foster creative expression.
Many of these elderly have limited access to mental health services; few receive the support they need to alleviate symptoms. The emphasis in most assisted living facilities is primarily on the physical needs of the residents; this, combined with staffing shortages, and a growing trend whereby elders are being cared for at home by inexperienced, albeit loving, family members, means that millions of older adults’ needs for psychological support are not being met. These elders lose the ability to express their feelings and desires and can be shut up from the consensus reality. Interventions belonging to the expressive arts can give elders, experiencing the challenges of dementia, a voice to express themselves.
Read the white paper: Helping Elders with Dementia by Doris Bersing, PhD
(President and co-founder of Living Well Assisted Living at Home, Inc)
[1] Alzheimer’s Association, 2010 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures, Alzheimer’s & Dementia, Volume 6
