About Senior Health
Explore senior health articlesAbout Senior Care Options
Explore senior living articlesAbout Finances & Legal
Explore finances and legal articlesAbout Products for Seniors
Explore products for seniors
How Art Therapy Enhances Quality of Life for Dementia Patients
Written by OurParents Staff
about the author
6 minute readLast updated April 20, 2023
Dr. Daniel C. Potts founded Cognitive Dynamics after his father Lester’s death in 2007. Lester, a rural Alabama saw miller, became a renowned watercolor artist while living with Alzheimer’s disease, despite having never shown any artistic talent prior to its onset.
Let our care assessment guide you
Our free tool provides options, advice, and next steps based on your unique situation.
What is art therapy?
“We would never have discovered my father’s talent,” says Potts, “if not for an art therapy program at a local adult day care center. Dad’s creativity had profound positive effects on him and our family, and after his death we founded Cognitive Dynamics to bring these therapeutic opportunities to others in like circumstances. The mission of the organization is to improve quality of life for those with cognitive impairment and their caregivers through the expressive arts and storytelling.” Cognitive Dynamics offers programs that foster dignity and validate Alzheimer’s patients in their current state, helping to honor their life stories and restore and preserve their sense of self. When done in combination with reminiscence activities, art therapy shows the person that their story is of value and interest to others. Not only that, but it’s a way of demonstrating to them that they are capable of adding beauty to the world for others to enjoy. “They can lose themselves in the moment as they create,” notes Potts. Through the process of art therapy, relationships are built, empathy fostered, anxiety lessened, and a sense of mastery or control over their environment is developed. It’s a matter of discovering new ways to express yourself and communicate. “Roadblocks to verbal communication laid by dementia are bypassed through the artistic process, and individuals can express themselves through the art,” Potts adds. “Concentration and attention improves, and patients are often easier to care for even when the therapy is over.”
Students help bring art to life
Offered as a service learning course in the University of Alabama Honors College, Bringing Art to Life is a program that brings art therapy to local people with mild to moderate dementia. The program pairs three to four students with each participant, and tasks them with learning the life story of their participant during art therapy sessions over eight weeks. “Prior to the sessions, students are given training about dementia, art and other expressive arts therapies, as well as person-centered care. We partner with LifeBio to capture life story information and create a leather-bound memoir book to present to the participant at the end of the course, along with the artistic works they have created,” Potts explains. The program has been developed to the point that it can be offered to other academic institutions and organizations with access to community partnerships. Indeed, examples of Bringing Art to Life’s positive impact are plentiful:
- One 90-year-old participant who was a former artist but lost her vision due to macular degeneration stated that she had been given her life back by learning that she can still create beautiful art with activities tailored toward engaging her sense of touch.
- A more advanced early-onset Alzheimer’s patient in his late 50s continued craft activities (such as building birdhouses) at home more than two years after his Bringing Art to Life session ended. His family says that it keeps him interested and engaged, and boosted his confidence.
- One woman in her 80s with moderate Alzheimer’s had stopped cooking and even interacting with younger members of her family. After Bringing Art to Life, she cooked Thanksgiving dinner and has continued to enjoy cooking again.
Let our care assessment guide you
Our free tool provides options, advice, and next steps based on your unique situation.
Art, music, writing, drama: A powerful combination
Music and art are known to enrich the lives of people with Alzheimer’s. However, among the many different types of therapies, there is more data about the effectiveness of music therapy in the Alzheimer’s population than any of the others. Potts says, “There is some good evidence that the available therapies may work best in combination — for example, art therapy plus music and dance. Or, within an art therapy session, combining creative writing and poetry, or a drama therapy session that makes use of written and spoken word, art and music in concert. What is certain is that all of them work better when reminiscence and personal expression make up an integral part of the therapy, where care is taken to not only help patients reminisce, but also to validate the their present reality.”
Talk with a Senior Care Advisor
Our advisors help 300,000 families each year find the right senior care for their loved ones.
How to get started in art therapy
It’s not just about helping the people with dementia — art therapy is also about their caregivers. Angel Duncan, MA, MFT-ATR, is an art therapist and the executive arts director at Cognitive Dynamics. She runs Cognitive Connections, a train-the-trainer arts therapy program designed for both professional and informal caregivers. Duncan is known internationally as an expert in art therapy techniques. She conducts on-site training sessions with participants receiving certification and manuals. According to Potts, it’s always a good idea to contact your local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association to see if they know of art therapy resources available. Your localArea Agency on Aging (AAA) may also be helpful in locating programs. Alzheimer’s caregiver support groups, day care centers, and Alzheimer’s disease centers at academic institutions often can recommend programs or offer programs of their own. Some universities have art therapy training programs with students who might be interested in practical internships.
Recommended For You
The information contained in this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute medical, legal or financial advice or create a professional relationship between A Place for Mom (of which OurParents is a trademark) and the reader. Always seek the advice of your health care provider, attorney or financial advisor with respect to any particular matter and do not act or refrain from acting on the basis of anything you have read on this site. Links to third-party websites are only for the convenience of the reader; A Place for Mom does not recommend or endorse the contents of the third-party sites.
OurParents is a trademark of A Place for Mom. A Place for Mom is paid by our participating communities, therefore our service is offered at no charge to families. Copyright © 2023 A Place for Mom, Inc. All Rights Reserved.