Dementia Care: Service Through Arts

Catalog description

224 This course will emphasize the importance of Arts Therapy as a lay person when working with the Geriatric Dementia and Alzheimer's Communities. Students will learn the importance and value of spending time bringing joy to geriatric individuals through use of visual, musical, or chair dancing arts. After three weeks of background knowledge and information about how the elderly, especially with dementia, qualify as an under-served community, students will explore different arts-based techniques to engage cognitive connections. Students will create activities to engage this community using a variety of arts therapy-based techniques. Students will spend two hours with this population to implement artistic therapeutic activities. They will then reflect on the efficacy of these techniques. Prerequisite: any 100-level VUSM course or transfer student placement. SJE, AE