Presenters & Abstracts

Patricia Baines, PhD (Anthropology)  MA, (Psychology),  MA (art therapy), Diploma in angewandter psychologie, Art therapist/counsellor, Alzheimer's Australia Tasmania bio...

Honouring the artist within: the cultural legitimation of being creative in Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian societies and its implications for individuals living with dementia. 

Australian Aboriginal people say that everyone is an artist. The Indigenous way of relating to creativity is that the Indigenous elders are expected to hand on knowledge – both stories and designs (ways of painting country) to appropriate individuals in the younger generations.  In the wider Australian society, which has many different nationalities, an individual’s creativity may be stymied by feelings that she or he is not an artist (that is, is not professionally trained). These different cultural approaches to creativity have interesting implications when working with individuals living with dementia.
 

Ruth Bright,  Dr. AM, Past President of the Australian National Music Therapy Association and the World Federation of Music Therapy and Adjunct Lecturer at the ‘Australian’ University of New England's School of Health   bio...

Music Therapy as a supportive intervention in coping with change

Life is full of changes - some bring joy, others pain and sadness. To cope with the changes inherent in dementia, clients and relatives need empathic support.

Participating in ‘live’ music with the therapist enhances clients’ self-image, rekindles family relationships. The trust thus established helps relatives to discuss problems with the therapist. 

Elinor Fuchs,  PhD, Professor of Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism at the School of Drama, Yale University, New Haven bio...

 My Mother’s Dementia/Our Lives in Art

Elinor Fuchs, a professor at the Yale School of Drama, describes how her training in theater unexpectedly became central to her ten-year career as caretaker of Lil, her mother.  Performing conversations taped with Lil in the last years of her life, Fuchs shows how a loving relationship can grow even in the face of a relentlessly advancing memory loss.

Dalia Gottlieb-Tanaka, PhD, Chair, The Society for the Arts in Dementia Care (Canada), Adjunct Professor at UBC, Vancouver  bio...

Research in Progress

Peter Graf, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver  bio...

Research in Progress

Janice Graham, Professor, Medical Anthropologist, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax bio...

Accessing and Rights of Access

Hilary Lee, MSc, Occupational Therapist and artist, Chair, The Society for the Arts in Dementia Care (Australia) Perth bio...

The Society ‘Down-Under’.

A report on the new chapter of the Society in Australia with examples of local projects

Bringing out the Human Essence in People with Dementia.

Summary of findings from a Master's research study on the ‘Spark of Life’ program 

Susan H.  McFadden, PhD, Professor and Chair Department of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Oshkosh bio...

Nourishing the Human Spirit through Creative Expression

In this talk, I will reflect on how people with dementia express their sense of spiritual meaning and connectedness when they are given the opportunity to be creative.  In addition, I will show how care providers can receive spiritual nourishment by entering into the creative moment with mindfulness and love. 

Shaun McNiff, PhD,  Psychologist and artist, Dean of Lesley College & University Professor, Boston bio...

Universal Access to Creative Expression: The Ideal and the Restraints

The talk will explore forces that foster and inhibit universal participation in the creative process and involve a discussion of who can and cannot help others realize their expressive potential and receive the life enhancing benefits of the arts.

Learning Goals:

1. Understand how to create environments that liberate the creative expression of others.   

2. Achieve a deeper understanding of the things within yourself and within environments that both support and restrict a person's ability to take creative risks. 

3. Gain skills in witnessing and supporting the expression of others.

Peter Spitzer, MD, MB BS, FACRRM, Churchill Fellow, Co-founder, Medical Director and Chairman of the Humour Foundation in Australia bio...

LaughterBoss: Review of an Australian Program Operating in Aged and
Dementia Care since 2003

The LaughterBoss Program was initially presented at the First Australian National Conference on Challenging Depression in Aged Care, Sydney, 2003. Since then aged care and dementia care staff around Australia have been introduced to this intensive ­ court jester - care training. They must have acknowledgement, support and blessing from management of the facility.

Rémi Quirion, PhD, Scientific Director, DHRC & INMHA, Professor at McGill University, Montreal bio...

Art and Dementia-A Personal Viewpoint