Creativity
Creative, social engagement can help improve the quality of lives of people with dementia and those who care for them. CAC is a national leader in this area of research, much due to the generous and visionary support of the Helen Bader Foundation. Helen Bader believed ardently in the potential for the arts, particularly music and dance, to improve the lives of people with dementia. We share that belief and are determined to help move the field of creative engagement forward through education, collaboration, and research.
The Penelope Project: the Power of Myth in Long Term Care
CAC and the UWM Dept. of Theatre are embarking on a new project in collaboration with Sojourn Theatre and Luther Manor Health Center. In the fall of 2010, the team will hold discussion workshops with family, staff and residents in long term care settings about the myth of Penelope from Homer's Odyssey. The discussions will inform the creation of a play that will be staged inside Luther Manor with participating family, staff, residents, students, and Sojourn's professional theatre company. CAC aims to create a national model for discussion workshops, a service-learning model, and teaching tools for a range of classroom settings.
Sojourn Theatre will be in Milwaukee in April, 2010 for a joint training in person-centered dementia care and creative engagement at Luther Manor, in conjuction with the National Association of Activity Professionals conference.
Basting received a Wisconsin Arts Board Creative Communities grant in support of this project. Luther Manor received a Wisconsin Humanities Council grant to support the project. UWM Theatre students Bethany Davey and Abby Armstrong also received SURF awards from the UWM Office of Undergraduate Research in support of their research on the project in the spring semester, 2010.
To follow the Penelope Project as it unfolds, subscribe to the Penelope blog.
10 Midwestern Museums Expand Programming to People with Dementia
With support from the Helen Bader Foundation, 10 museums that serve Wisconsin residents have received planning grants to implement educational engagement programs for people with dementia and a caregiver. Inspired by MOMA's "Meet me at MOMA" and other Alzheimer's programming, the 10 museums are collaborating to share training, branding, and promotion of their programs. Museums and cultural institutions include: The Milwaukee Public Museum, the Milwaukee Historical Society, the Racine Art Museum, the Racine Heritage Museum, the Museum of Wisconsin Art, the John Michael Kohler Art Center, the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the Museum of Maritime Art in Winona, MN.
CAC director Anne Basting is assisting the museums with training, consulting, and evaluation. CAC graphic designer Jeremy Mlodik created the logo for their shared program name. The programs will be called "Spark! cultural programming for people with memory loss" The consortium of institutions are calling themselves "The Spark Alliance". The initial 5 museums, granted planning funding in July 2009, are now entering implementation phase. The second 5 museums, awarded planning funds in January, are joining conversations and trainings set in motion by the initial group of museums.
The alliance will offer a day-long workshop at the Art Institute of Chicago on June 11th, 2010, sponsored by the Association of Midwest Museums. Registration flyer is attached here. plugin-Memory Loss Workshop.pdf
Dialogue in Best Practice: The Power of Theatre in Health Education
In October 2009, the Center brought together playwrights, theatre artists, medical educators, and community outreach experts to talk about the unique quality of theatre to teach empathy and relay information in public health and medical education settings. The Dialogue took place Thursday, October 22nd from 4:00-5:30. On Friday morning, October 23rd from 9:00 to 11:30, Merri Biechler, author of The Reluctant Caregiver, taught a workshop about how to create and market theatre pieces for health education.
Milvotchkee, Visconsin: A new play by Laura Jacqmin
The CAC and Peck School of the Arts Residency in Applied Arts brought Laura Jacqmin to UWM during the fall of 2009. In her 3-month residency, Jacqmin researched and wrote a new play about the experience of memory loss for regional theatre and for medical education settings. On November 19th (7:30pm) and 22nd (2pm), we hosted a professional staged reading of the play, directed by former director of new play development at the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago, Edward Sobel.
Next Step Think Tank: How to Radically Transform Activities in Long Term Care
In May 2009, CAC held its 4th in a series of Think Tanks. This time, we brought together artists, media makers, leaders in aging services, educators, and caregivers to brainstorm about how the field of aging might build on the conceptual models of the arts and community-based arts to transform "activities" in long term care. The White Paper is free and downloadable on our Products/Resources page.
TimeSlips Goes On-line
Anne Basting is developing an on-line, continuing education class to teach people the TimeSlips creative storytelling method. The course will be ideal for family caregivers, staff, and volunteer facilitators, and will be available in early 2010. With support from the Extendicare Foundation, Retirement Research Foundation, and Helen Bader Foundation.
Elder Abuse and Elder Fraud Documenataries
Usually, training videos are so many talking heads telling you what you should remember, but rarely do.
That's why CAC, The Center for Healthy Communities (CHC) at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Milwaukee County Department on Aging are working with UWM's docUWM on two independent projects that convey the reality of Elder Fraud and Elder Abuse. They are collaborating to produce short documentaries that tell elders' personal stories--to be included as part of training modules for professionals in aging services.
The goal is that by applying a narrative documentary style, the images and stories will stick in the minds of those attending the training seminars-so that doctors, nurses, and police officers will be better informed as they react to these sensitive cases. The 5-8 minute videos were produced by 13 UWM Film and JCOMM students as part of their spring course, Film 380: Documentary Project: Elder Abuse. Each group of students was given a maltreatment case, from there some students had the opportunity to meet with the victims or hear the stories through relatives and case managers.
The idea for this project came in April 2005, and is expected to be completed in August 2008. The films will then be distributed along with supporting materials from the Milwaukee County Department on Aging as part of the First Responder Training Packet.
Songwriting Works Gives Voice to Aging Community
Songwriting Works is an internationally recognized creative model for promoting health. Founder and award-winning songwriter Judith-Kate Friedman has been sharing this hands-on program for nearly 30 years, serving hundreds of elders, youth and families each year. Innovative research in the field of creative aging shows how music and arts participation can enhance physical, mental and community health.
Friedman will be visiting Wisconsin in April to offer a Songwriting Works Workshops in Appleton and Milwaukee, WI. Songwriting Works is an interactive workshop designed for older adults, caregivers and intergenerational groups. During the session, Friedman uses the power of performance to foster healing and personal growth for older adults, while promoting cultural awareness and building community.
Workshop attendees will explore applications of Songwriting Works' best practices and principles for successful facilitation with older adults as respite for caregivers. They will hear songs composed by elders, access individual and collective voices and find new levels of self-expression.
This program is ideal for professionals in healthcare, creative arts, aging and life-long learners. No prior musical background is required. To learn more about the program and hear songs and testimonials, visit www.songwritingworks.org.
Registration is $60 per person and includes lunch and a manual. Register on-line. For information on a limited number of scholarships, contact Lori Woodburn at woodburn@uwm.edu or 229-2740.
This event is sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center on Age and Community, Luther Manor, Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and Alzheimer's Association of Southeastern Wisconsin.
TimeSlips Creative Storytelling
CAC is the national base for the TimeSlips Creative Storytelling Project, which currently has 11 regional training bases across the United States. TimeSlips is an improvisational, creative storytelling method that shifts the expectation away from memory and nurtures the use of imagination. It has been used with great success (and joy) among people of all ages and abilities. Our research has focused on the effects of the project on people with dementia and their care partners. The TimeSlips website now showcases a Story section, in which people using the method can easily download images and share (upload) their stories.
TimeSlips offers training workshops to certify facilitators, and custom-tailored trainings that deeply embeds the method in a facility over a period of time. www.timeslips.org
Residency in Applied Arts
NOTE: This program is no longer seeking applicants. Our current Artist in Residence (Laura Jacqmin) will be the last in this program, as we have completed our funding cycle.
The CAC Residency in Applied Arts offered a three month residency to nationally renowned artists who wanted to explore a project dealing with dementia/aging. Because more and more artists were becoming intrigued with dementia as a topic for their work, this residency was designed to give them an intensive, community-based learning experience to better inform, design, and develop their work. A national review panel selected our three artists in residence. Documentary photographer Wing Young Huie, the first recipient of the award, was in residence from February 15th to June 1st, 2007. Artist David Greenberger, was in residence during February, April, and October 2008. Playwright Laura Jacqmin was in residence from August to November 2009, creating a play for regional theaters and educational use. A staged reading of the play was held November 19th and 22nd, directed by Edward Sobel of Philadelphia's Arden Theatre Co.
Funding from the Helen Bader Foundation and the Brookdale Foundation supported this program for three residencies between 2006 and 2009. Read more about the Residency and the artists.
Creativity Research at Luther Manor
Rhonda Montgomery offers the "Capstone" course in the graduate certificate in applied gerontology at UWM. Each year, this capstone cohort takes on a research project. In 2006, Montgomery's students went to Luther Manor Adult Day Services and evaluated a sculpture program for their participants. Results found that group activities were the most effective for residents, and that creative, non-hierarchical activities had the most impact on staff. Students are now preparing that research for publication.
TimeSlips and Memories in the Making Training Workshops
CAC hosted two creativity trainings in spring of 2007. On May 31st, Sam Heinly, national trainer for Memories in the Making, offered a half-day training at Luther Manor. On June 1st, we offered a TimeSlips training workshop, including an on-site demonstration, at Luther Manor. From May 30th to June 1st, CAC hosted a Train the Trainer Retreat for TimeSlips, a gathering of nearly 30 new and returning trainers from across the United States. These trainers offered the TS workshop on the 1st, infusing it with new energy and excitement.
UWM's ElderTales: 4 Storytelling sites in Milwaukee
CAC Director Anne Basting teaches, among other things, Storytelling and Playwriting. In 2007, Basting's Storytelling class went out to 4 different care facilities in Milwaukee and did storytelling with their residents/participants; St. Johns on the Lake, the Milwaukee Catholic Home, St. Ann's Intergenerational Care Center, and EastCastle Senior Living. The students began the semester by taking a survey on their attitudes about dementia, and will take the survey again at semester's end. This same scale (developed by Susan McFadden and Melissa Lunsman) will be used in other TimeSlips service learning courses offered across the country. Stay tuned for the results...
Danceworks Collaboration
In 2007, CAC's Tom Fritsch worked with Milwaukee's DanceWorks on evaluating the impact of their programs for people with dementia.
Kairos Dance Theatre's Dancing Heart
In 2008, CAC worked with Minneapolis-based Kairos Dance Theatre to develop and evaluate their new training program. This project is supported by the Helen Bader Foundation.
"Think Tank" on Creativity and Dementia Research
In June of 2006, CAC held Creativity and Dementia: Moving Forward in Research. A dozen top researchers, artists, and care providers from across the country gathered with CAC scholars and partners to figure out how we might better evaluate the impact of creative engagement on people with dementia and their care partners. The white paper from that symposium is available for free download.
Talk Back Move Forward: 100 years of Alzheimer's disease
CAC Director Anne Basting worked with Kathy Louis (UH-Extended Care Campus) in Chardon, Ohio, Dr. Peter Whitehouse (Case University), and Shirley Huston Findley (College of Wooster) to research and create Talk Back Move Forward: 100 Years of Alzheiemer's Disease. Basting co-produced (with Brad Lichtenstein) and directed the 8 minute dvd, which blends interviews with medical researchers, care providers, and people with dementia and stunning still photographs by Jim Herrington. Terry Caddell of docUWM edited. The short film offers a collage of voices looking at where we've come in dementia care and where we need to go. It is available for free download and is designed to be a teaching tool for audiences from high school students to family and professional caregivers.
Journal of Arts, Humanities, and Aging
Anne Basting helped launch the new Journal of Arts, Humanities and Aging with the team of editorial advisors through the Gerontological Society of America. The journal is accepting articles and will be published by Taylor & Francis.
StoryCorps Milwaukee
CAC Director Anne Basting collaborated with the Milwaukee Public Library, UWM's WUWM 89.7 FM and doc UWM to bring StoryCorps to Milwaukee for 6 months in the country's first StoryCorps "outpost" booth. The booth opened January 25th in the Oriental Room at the Central Library and will be open through July 25th. Outreach partners include: Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, The LINKS Milwaukee Chapter, the Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, Interfaith Older Adult Programs, The Milwaukee Jewish Federation, UWM's Center for Cultures and Communities and Service Learning, the United Community Center, Luther Manor, the Indian Council for the Elderly, and SAGE (Seniors in a Gay Environment).
For reservations and information, visit www.storycorps.net. $10 suggested donation. More about StoryCorps. . .
StoryCorps Memory Loss Initiative
CAC Director Anne Basting worked with StoryCorps to design, implement, and evaluate the Memory Loss Initiative. The initiative ensures that the StoryCorps interview experience is accessible to people with memory loss and their family and friends. Basting created an advisory board for the project, and worked with Marie Savundranayagam to design the evaluation of the initiative. CAC's Lorna Dilley will conduct the evaluation. Basting is helping promote the initiative nationally, and StoryCorps is producing special segments featuring people with memory loss. You can listen to them by clicking here.
