National conference on a dementia-friendly society heads to Newcastle

THE future of dementia-friendly communities in the North East will take centre stage this week when a pioneering approach to how society can adapt is held in Newcastle.

Weve teamed up with Newcastle University for the seminar being held as part of the national project, Dementia and Imagination (D&I).

Using pilot schemes in the Midlands, Wales and North East the three-year arts and humanities research project is exploring the impact of visual arts on dementia.

"The sessions have encouraged us to approach modern and effective ways of delivering care to our residents with dementia." Jackie Murray, manager at an Akari Care-run setting

Leading the North East strand of the project Equal Arts, our artists and Newcastle University researchers have been holding creative sessions in care settings in South Shields, Newcastle and Sunderland with residents and staff.

Alice Thwaite, Equal Arts co-director, said: “With a great deal of experience bringing arts to the care sector we were delighted to be involved in this important area of work.

“This research looks at the impact arts can have on the health and wellbeing of participants and if arts practice should be established as a fundamental element of care instead of an added extra.”

More than 40 care staff, academics, people living with dementia and artists are among those attending the event on May 13 at Newcastle University.

Hearing from artists Claire Ford and Kate Sweeney, they’ll take part in an interactive workshop imagining dementia supportive communities through the arts.

Findings and ideas from the North East will feed into the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s national Connected Communities Festival this June in London.

Andrew Newman, Senior Lecturer in museum studies at Newcastle University, said: “We are asking those attending, what would a future with a greater understanding of dementia look like.”