The 27th Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) conference was held last week, at the ExCel Centre in London and I was there to present a poster of the Creative Spaces project.
Stuart, our Assistant Director and graphic designer extraordinaire had designed the poster; taking my more-than-meaty text (I have too much to say!) and moulding it into concise and informative bullet points. Add to that a colourful display of graphics and images and we had a poster that caught the eye of many delegates.
I was accompanied by Angie MacDonald, a PhD student who is using Creative Spaces as a case study for her research in restorative outdoor environments and between us we had a busy Friday lunchtime chatting to all kinds of people who were curious to know more about the project.
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| Creative Spaces Poster presentation |
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| A delegate pauses to read our poster |
Questions were a balance between the topics of garden design for people with dementia and how gardens could be used to engage residents with the community. We spoke about the various activities and approaches used, the involvement of young people and Trevarna residents together and that the garden was designed not as a sensory or therapeutic environment but as an inclusive environment taking in elements that supported all users. Most of those we spoke to were care/nursing home managers and care staff but several other poster presenters also came over to ask about the project.
Ours was the only poster there representing the benefits of using outdoor environments and related activities in connecting people with dementia with their communities and we stood out amongst a sea of posters covering research, care systems, reminiscence and memory cafes around the world. There were probably only about 6 posters present (out of around 100) that were based on using creative techniques to engage people with dementia; a sign that the focus is still very much on scientific and medical approaches. It seems that providing quality of life through creative engagement with other people is still not being given the same consideration - I like to believe that we at least provided some food for thought that afternoon. They do say 'from little acorns big oaks grow'!
Wendy Brewin
Creative Spaces Project Manager
