Taken from
The Palette from NAMTA - September 10
The Power of Art
Partnership to reach people with dementia EL
PASO, TX: Until now, there were
few ways for people with dementia to express themselves and to socialize in the El Paso community.
That will change come October, when a new collaboration
between the El Paso
Art Museum and the local
Alzheimer’s Association will provide people with dementia the opportunity and
the tools to express themselves through art. “We know art; the Alzheimer’s
Association knows the illness. We’re forging a good
partnership,” said Michael Tomor, director of the El Paso Art Museum. “We studied the model
developed at New York’s Museum of Modern Art,
so we didn’t reinvent the wheel,” he explained. “MoMA did hundreds of studies
on how to use art to reach people with Alzheimer’s.”
The incurable disease accounts for 50 percent to 75 percent
of all dementia cases. Susie Gorman, the regional director of the West Texas
Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association based in El Paso, is
enthusiastic about the collaboration. “We’re thrilled about
the possibilities of promoting socialization through art,” she said. “Our job
is to educate patients and family about the illness and refer them to the
appropriate contacts. We also address legal situations and financial problems
that arise.
Tomor added, “The importance of community collaboration
can’t be overestimated.” Current research and programs show that looking at
art, as well as making it, benefits those in the early stages of
Alzheimer’s. At present, “early” is often a misnomer, agreed
experts at a recent workshop in El
Paso. By the time symptoms are identified, most people
are already in mid‐stage. More than 5 million people in the United States
are living with the disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, and
a new case is diagnosed every 67 seconds. Work to develop
the El Paso
program started earlier this month during the two‐day workshop at the art museum. A panel
discussion included local people who are involved in various aspects of art and
Alzheimer’s. May Fisher, a program
specialist at the Houston
museum, led an audience discussion that helped the El Paso team develop criteria for the program.
“By the end of the workshop, basics were in place to launch
our plan,” Tomor said. “We learned several important things from our speakers. “First,
our program here at the museum has to work, not only for the core group, but
also for the institution offering it.
