Dementia Reimagined: Research Dialogues with Debra Sheets
Debra Sheets, RN, PhD
Professor, School of Nursing
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
3:30–5:00 p.m. PT via Zoom
Please use this link to register this event. After registering you will receive a confirmation containing informaton about join the meeting on zoom and the option to add it to your calender.
https://uvic.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUucempqzssE9HOZ61E8wJv5cz9JlYRWliI
Dementia Inclusive Victoria focuses on promoting a better understanding of dementia, reducing stigma, raising public awareness and facilitating social inclusion and participation within our community. Two research projects at UVic are creating intergenerational communities for creative engagement, learning, and social connection for persons living with dementia (PwD) and their care partners: 1) the Voices in Motion (ViM) choir, a professionally led dementia choir; and 2) Memory Café Victoria, a arts and creativity program (e.g., story creation, music, poetry, arts, etc). Both community-based programs offer professionally led activities focused on learning, joyful engagement, and social connections. These programs are shown to decrease loneliness, depression, caregiver distress, and the rate of cognitive decline. Findings suggest that arts-based dementia programs are a cost-effective approach to reduce social isolation and stigma, and create a community of belonging and acceptance. Arts-based programs shift attention away from declines associated with memory loss. They allow the PwD to live more fully now, giving hope in the absence of a medical cure.