I went along to the 1st TAnDem Conference at the end of last month because I've been interested in arts and dementia for some time, trying to use my creative skills alongside those of caring to improve wellbeing.
This was a varied and refreshingly accessible day - Examples of creative activity were shared.. existing doctoral projects were presented.. ideas, challenges and funding streams were considered for future research..
The breadth of people and organisations represented was properly inspiring. It really reinforced that the world of arts and dementia are coming together with some momentum. There are inevitable challenges in co-production as a result of the gap between theory and practice, or the different approaches of researchers and creative practitioners.. but as with all healthcare interventions, robust evidence is needed to justify funding.
This got me pondering again on the idea of actually doing some research.. And then today I spent a joyful afternoon at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in a creative group for people with dementia where the benefits were thoroughly apparent.
Maybe it's time to write a research proposal..?
