Please join us for Dementia & The Arts, a virtual panel discussion

Jan 06, 2024 9:00 pm

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Hello ,

The science and art worlds tell us that music, art, theater, and dance may help us engage with people who have dementia, whether they are in the early to middle stages or deep into decline. Social media is full of videos of people thought to be "lost" moving to the beat of music from their past. Others create beautiful sketches and paintings they'd never been known to do prior to their diagnosis. Still others can sing, word for word, songs that connect them to their youth or to happier times. Poetry is also a helpful resource for those in early to middle stages to express themselves and document their experience.

All of this provides a means of expression and connection for both the individual affected with dementia and those who care for them. And these modalities are easily accessible to all involved, and may make the long days shorter, providing relief from boredom and creating meaningful interactions.

Please join us for our first AlzAuthors Live! Virtual Q&A for 2024: Dementia & the Arts, January 23 at 7 pm EST, a panel discussion centered on the use of the arts as a means of expression in dementia care. We will explore the benefits of using these modalities and how families and others in dementia care can bring them to those living with these conditions.

Please share this event information with your family, friends and any others you may know who are concerned with dementia, including: online and in-person support groups, memory cafes, home care personnel, healthcare providers, and memory care. Thank you.

Potential discussion points:

Are people living with dementia truly “lost”?
How can we use the arts to connect with people living with dementia?
How does music break through “dementia fog” and cause people to sing, speak, move?
Why does poetry break down barriers?
How can we make these expressive tools available to all caregivers at home or with loved ones in care?

Panelists:

Tom & Karen Brenner (IL), You Say Goodbye and We Say Hello: The Montessori Method for Positive Dementia Care
Mary Crescenzo (CA), The Planet Alzheimer's Guide
Katya de Luisa (Costa Rica), Journey through the Infinite Mind
Marc Rothman, MD (KY), Dementia Spring Foundation
Tryn Rose Seley (AZ), Fifteen Minutes of Fame

Moderated by Marianne Sciucco and Christy Byrne Yates.

The program will be free, on Zoom, and recorded for future viewing on YouTube. It will also be made into a podcast.

You will receive the link to the event upon registering. Register here

About the Panelists

Note: all book links go to Amazon.com, earning us a small commission on sales which will cost you nothing.

Tom and Karen Brenner are a couple with a passion to help those with dementia and their families connect on a meaningful level. Tom is a gerontologist who specializes in creating dementia care programs that are strength-based and positive leaning. Karen is a Montessori educator who co-founded a Montessori school for children who are deaf. They have worked together for the past twenty years researching and implementing the application of the Montessori Method to dementia care. After years of working directly with people living with dementia and their caregivers, they have published two books about their work: The Montessori Method for Connecting to People with Dementia, and You Say Goodbye and We Say Hello: The Montessori Method for Positive Dementia Care. Based in Chicago, they travel throughout the United States presenting workshops, training programs, and speaking engagements about their uplifting and positive approach to dementia care.

Mary Crescenzo is a multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary artist. As a master teaching artist, she is a pioneer in arts engagement with persons with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Her writing spans the literary world as a published author of nonfiction, fiction, essay, poetry and reviews in both commercial and literary markets. In the world of theatre, she is a playwright and performer, member of the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights and a lifetime member of The Dramatists Guild. Her play, Planet A, a social drama, is based on her vast experiences as a teaching artist around the country with persons with Alzheimer’s. Mary’s current focus is on public speaking on Arts and Alzheimer’s, based on her book,The Planet Alzheimer's Guide: 8 Ways the Arts Can Transform the Life of Your Loved One and Your Own.

Katya De Luisa is an artist, expressive arts program designer, freelance writer, and author with 20 years experience working with those living with dementia and their families. She is the founder/director of the non-profit The Infinite Mind Dementia Project in Costa Rica and author of Journey Through the Infinite Mind: The Science and Spirituality of Dementia.

Marc Rothman, MD is founder and president of the Dementia Spring Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) venture studio that invests in visual and performing artists and innovators who are changing the prevailing narrative of dementia and bringing joy and creativity to the dementia community through their work. Founded in 2020, the Artist Network now includes over 200 artists and innovators from around the world who are grappling with memory loss, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in their work. New artist Spotlights are shared every week on the Dementia Spring website. Through the Foundation’s annual, competitive Dementia Arts Impact Award program, funding, technical & marketing support, and subject-matter expertise are provided to a select group of artists and innovators who are telling new stories of dementia and bringing theatre, dance, music, and other visual/performing arts programs to those living with dementia. He is also the CEO of Lizzy Care.

Tryn Rose Seley Firebird Book Award-winning author Tryn Rose Seley is a professional photographer and sought-after musician. She has supported the lives of young children, those with special needs, and elders with Alzheimer’s and related dementias for over 25 years. All of her projects and offerings are designed to empower caregivers and the one they care for. She is the author of 15 Minutes of Fame: One Photo Does Wonders to Bring You Both Back to Solid Ground.

About the Moderators

Marianne Sciucco, author of Blue Hydrangeas, an Alzheimer’s love story, is a co-founder of AlzAuthors, manager, director, podcast host and producer, and acquisitions editor. Learn more about Marianne here.

Christy Byrne Yates, author of Building a Legacy of Love: Thriving in the Sandwich Generation, is a podcast host and producer, and manager of our YouTube channel. Learn more about Christy here.

For more information contact alzauthors@gmail.com.

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Also Join us for our New Book Club

We're partnering with the online community Aging & Amazing to begin a monthly book club starting in January. Andrea Couture, author of the memoir Embracing What Remains, will moderate. We'll feature a new book and author every month. Here's the schedule through April:

January 30th 7pm EST: Andrea Couture – Embracing What Remains: A Memoir
February 27th 7pm EST: Florrie Munat – Be Brave, a Wife’s Journey Through Caregiving
March 26th 7pm EST: Ruth Stevens– Stage Seven, a novel
April 30th 7pm EST: A gathering of poets for National Poetry Month: featuring Sherri Levine, Stealing Flowers from the Neighbors; Daniel Potts, MD, Bringing Art to Life; Margaret Stawowy, co-editor of Storms of the Inland Sea, an anthology with Jim Cokas

To learn more about this book club or to become a member, please visit agingamazing.com.

Register here to get the link to the Zoom meetings.

Aging & Amazing, based in Washington DC, is “an online community, in addition to local, in-person care management and training services supporting older adults, caregivers, and professionals specializing in aging. Aging & Amazing offers a helping hand to uplift older adults, caregivers, and professionals through services, education, and support.”

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