A NEW arts project to support people living with dementia and their carers has been launched by Warwickshire County Council (WCC).
Arts Uplift CIC will deliver an Arts and Dementia programme on behalf of the council across Warwickshire for the next 18 months.
The programme will include six art forms – singing and music, storytelling, dance and movement, reminiscence, arts and crafts, and performance poetry.
For each area there will be free workshop sessions in the community, hospital wards and care homes, with training offered for support workers. All sessions will focus on six activity themes of holidays, a night out, food and shopping, games and entertainment, school days, and celebrations.
The community sessions will be delivered as free short courses lasting six weeks covering each art form, with each session lasting 75 minutes and including some social time. After the participants finish the six weeks, they will be given a resource pack which will include some suggested activities to carry on with at home.
The initiative is part of WCC’s new Creative Health Warwickshire programme.
Jenny Davis, Director of Arts Uplift CIC, said: “We are so excited and honoured to have been awarded this Creative Care commission from Warwickshire County Council. It is so fantastic that they are investing in arts and health in this way.
“This is such an amazing opportunity for people living with dementia and their carers. We know from the work and research we do how powerful the arts are in supporting people with dementia and we can’t wait to get going!”
WCC’s social care and health spokeswoman Coun Margaret Bell said: “Participation in the arts can help with improving mental well-being, reducing isolation and loneliness, improving brain cognition and physical co-ordination and also making new friends.
“It is with this in mind that we have put together the Creative Health Warwickshire Programme providing a wide range of activities and support for people of all ages, abilities and interests. It’s exciting to see the projects coming to life and I hope many will benefit from the Art and Dementia sessions in different settings across the county.”
People can be referred by a health professional or can self-refer. They do not need a formal diagnosis of dementia.
Visit www.artsuplift.co.uk/arts-for-dementia-warwickshire or contact Jenny Davis at [email protected] or on 07946 585978 for more information.
Visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/creativehealth for more information about the Creative Health Warwickshire programme.
