When Plymouth Village unveiled its newly renovated memory care area on its campus this year, The Grove, it coincided with the reintroduction of a unique partnership between the local senior living community and the Riverside Arts Council.
The Grove Arts Program, which has run intermittently for nearly a decade, sees local artists join residents with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia to work on various projects together. Each discipline – watercolor, drawing, sculpting, music and even dance – is taught by a specific artist in six-week intervals.
Keith Kasin, executive director of Plymouth Village, says the results to date have been remarkable, adding the art activities have helped rekindle forgotten childhood memories and professions for some residents. He recalls one resident, a former physician, who kept painting intricate red and blue lines, only for the pattern to eventually resemble a body complete with a circulatory system.
Kasin says the program aligns with their philosophy about dementia care, one that moves away from the clinical, medication-based model and instead promotes increased socialization among smaller groups of residents.
The program comes at a time when 5.7 million Americans have Alzheimer’s, and by 2050, it’s anticipated this number will climb to nearly 14 million, an increase of about 145 percent. The Alzheimer’s Association says today, one in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia.