The benefits of performance 
 

When using creative drama directly with people with dementia, either on their own or with their care partners, studies report numerous benefits. 

 

These include: 

1. Developing positive social environments that promote laughter, fun and hope and enable people with dementia to live ‘in the moment’ and to forget the serious challenges they may be faced with 

2. Reducing the sense of apathy and social isolation that people may feel 

3. Enhancing people’s life-long learning by supporting them to engage in new art forms 

4. Providing people with a new set of tools through which to express their feelings, desires and aspirations and so enable ‘meaningful’ social interaction and communication 

5. Providing a means to communicate the challenges they may experience when living with dementia 

6. Contributing to the memory recall of certain key ideas such as word repetition, movement and rhyme 

7. Being situated as ‘storytellers’ or ‘creators’ within the process rather than ‘patients’ with some autonomy and control over the creative process 

8. Facilitating a sense of achievement as people with dementia and their care partners can contribute to research that will offer benefits for others in a similar position