Festival in a Box: Development and qualitative evaluation of an outreach programme to engage socially isolated people with dementia
Eades, M. Lord, Kathryn Cooper, C.
Eades, M.
Lord, Kathryn
Cooper, C.
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2016
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Abstract
We co-designed and piloted ‘Festival in a Box’, an outreach programme to enable socially
isolated people with dementia to engage with and enjoy cultural activities in their homes.
It comprised 3–4 weekly home visits, each led by a professional artist to create art works
using materials brought in ‘the box’. Activities included music, poetry, pottery, crafts and
photography. We qualitatively interviewed 13 participants (6 people with dementia, 4 artists,
3 befrienders). Six participants with dementia completed, enjoyed and engaged with the
planned visits. Main themes were: engagement, reflection on value of previous cultural
activities, precariousness and isolation in current neighbourhood and the importance of a voice
and being heard. Befrienders reported their preconceptions of what participants could do were
challenged. Artists reported shifts in their preconceptions about dementia and the influence
of the project on their professional practice. We propose that the ‘Festival in a Box’ pilot
study suggests a means through which community arts festivals could work with socially
isolated people with dementia to contribute to the creation of ‘Dementia Friendly
Communities’. A larger-scale pilot study is now needed to develop this hypothesis.
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Eades M, Lord K and Cooper C (2018) Festival in a Box: Development and qualitative evaluation of an outreach programme to engage socially isolated people with dementia. Dementia. 17(7): 896-908.
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