Bringing Art to Life – Chicago, a service – learning program for high school students in the Chicago, IL area, engages students and persons living with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia in art and other expressive arts therapies, reminiscence and life story-sharing. Students form multicultural, intergenerational relationships with their dementia partners, and participate in comprehensive educational sessions about dementia, including appropriate methods of interacting with persons living with dementia, etc.
Bringing Art to Life – Chicago is a collaboration between Cognitive Dynamics Foundation andChicago Methodist Senior Services, and has received support from theAlzheimer’s Foundation of AmericaandHigh Socks for Hope Foundation. Medical students from Rush University, the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois serve as facilitators of the program. Through the technology ofEmbodied Labs, students have virtual reality experiences living with dementia as part of their training.
During this summer’s session of Bringing Art to Life – Chicago, our high school student participants and their partners living with dementia are exploring the wonders of nature together as they plant and enjoy a sensory garden at Chicago Methodist Senior Services. The sensory garden complements the experience they are having together in art therapy, and the developing relationships help to combat stigma and build empathy.
The photos below were taken on 7-27-2019 at the sensory garden.
Cognitive Dynamics is pleased to offer our award-winning 27:30 minute documentary short, Do You Know Me Now?, for free access on our Youtube Channel, CognitiveDynamics1, at the link below.
Do You Know Me Now? shows ways in which care partners can connect in the moment and have a mutually fulfilling relationship – one which discovers the person beneath the disease and builds upon remaining abilities and personality traits. Life is about relationships, and these relationships need not be lost due to Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
Do You Know Me Now? explores relationships and personhood, taking a novel look at what it means to be a person with dementia who is still very much alive and possessing those traits upon which relationships may be built, even late into the disease. The project highlights stories of people living with dementia and their loved ones who have found ways to connect — who have discovered joy, beauty and self-expression despite the losses.
Do You Know Me Now? reminds us that while cognitive ability diminishes, deep personhood lives on.
The film, directed and co-produced by Canadian film maker, Judith Murray, and edited and co-produced by American film maker, Brian Covert, features Ed and Naomi Feil (Founder of Validation Therapy), Rita and James Houston (Founder of Regent College), Joan and Cathie Borrie (Author of The Long Hello), and Lester and Ethelda Potts (Parents of Cognitive Dynamics Founder, Daniel C. Potts, MD, FAAN).
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Cognitive Dynamics Foundation has partnered with Dementia Friendly Alabama and the Faith United Against Alzheimer’s Coalition (a network of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s) to more effectively support and serve Alabama residents who are living with dementia and their care partners and families.
Supported by a grant from the Central Alabama Aging Consortium via its Dementia Friendly Alabama Initiative, projects leads Lynda Everman and Dr. Don Wendorf, internationally recognized dementia advocates, will provide resources and education to faith communities in the Birmingham/Tuscaloosa area. During the Feb. 1 – July 31, 2018 grant period, visits will be arranged with staff of faith-based organizations to talk with them about what constitutes a dementia friendly faith-based community and leave them with tangible educational and caregiving resources and ideas to initiate or expand this ministry of compassionate dementia care.
The program is aimed at two underserved populations: 1) individuals with dementia and their care partners, who due to the cognitive, physical, emotional, and financial challenges presented by this disease, are no longer able to fully participate in their faith communities; and 2) faith communities who may not know how to recognize, interact with, and support their members with dementia and their care partners.
Cognitive Dynamics hopes to collaboratively raise awareness of the unique needs of this population in our community, help reduce the stigma associated with Alzheimer’s and related dementias, and foster dementia friendly faith communities where those living with Alzheimer’s and their care partners feel respected, supported, and included, and where they can continue to participate in activities that are meaningful to them.
For more information about this program, please contact us at info@cognitivedynamics.org.
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Cognitive Dynamics Founder and President Daniel C. Potts, MD, FAAN was a recent guest of Mike Good (Together In This) for a podcast titled “The Importance of Dementia Compassionate Culture.” In the podcast, Good and Potts discuss the story and art of Lester E. Potts, Jr., an Alabama saw miller who discovered a hidden talent for watercolor painting after the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, and how this discovery led to new insights about the persistence of personhood and creativity in persons living with dementia.
The program created in memory of Lester Potts, Bringing Art to Life, was then discussed as a means to grow empathy and create a culture of compassion in dementia care through art therapy, storytelling, and the building of intergenerational relationships. The program has two active locations, at the University of Alabama and in Chicago (Bringing Art to Life: Chicago), and is under development at other sites.
The documentary highlights the lives and stories of two Canadian and two American persons with dementia (Rita Houston, Joan Borrie, Ed Feil and Lester E. Potts, Jr.) and their care partners, Dr. James Houston, Cathie Borrie, Naomi Feil and Ethelda Potts.
The documentary demonstrates how personhood persists despite dementia, and shows ways by which these care partners were able to tap into that personhood and build meaningful relationships and experience joy in the moment.
The documentary will eventually be made available for purchase and download. Please watch future news posts from our website for further information.
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The watercolor art of Lester E. Potts, Jr., an artist with Alzheimer’s disease, is now available for purchase athttp://www.lesterslegacy.com/.
Lester, a rural Alabama saw miller, had never painted until after the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. Lester’s newly-found creativity improved his quality of life and had many other benefits. His art has been shown from Beverly Hills to Paris, has been the subject of research, and appears in articles, textbooks, devotional books and documentaries.
Lester’s art has been used as a tool of engagement and reminiscence between care givers and persons with dementia.
Prints of Lester’s art are available in different sizes on thehttp://www.lesterslegacy.com/website. In addition, 5 styles of greeting cards are available, with short verses composed by Daniel C. Potts, MD, FAAN on the back covers of each.
If you are not interested in purchasing, you may simply peruse the beautiful art that appears on the page.
Proceeds from the sale of all products appearing onhttp://www.lesterslegacy.com/go toward supporting the mission and programs of Cognitive Dynamics
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Cognitive Dynamics Foundation has launched Bringing Art to Life Chicago, an innovative art therapy program for persons with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. The program will be based on the past 5 years’ success ofBringing Art to Lifein partnership with the University of Alabama Honors College in the service learning course,UH Art to Life.
The program will bring art therapy and the opportunity for empathic, intergenerational relationships to persons with dementia and students in the Chicago area, as well as education and support for their caregivers.
Our team includes Project Directors and former UA Art to Life students, Angela Ray and Cyrus Alavi, Lead Physician and Rush University Neurologist, Neelum Aggarwal, MD, and VA Lead, Kevin Hull, JD.
The program is supported in part by theHigh Socks for Hope Foundation, a nonprofit started by Chicago White Sox pitcher, David Robertson and his wife, Erin. The photographs below were made at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago at a recent fundraiser hosted by High Socks for Hope.
To all former students & participants in the Art to Life program at the University of Alabama Honors College:
PLEASE SAVE THE DATE: APRIL 19, 2016 – 6 to 8 pm Ferguson Center Gallery on the UA campus 751 Campus Drive West, Tuscaloosa, AL 35404
Cognitive Dynamics requests the honor of your presence at a gala celebrating 5 years of our Art to Life program. We want to honor our former participants, their families and all former students, as well as other organizations and individuals who have made this program possible. There will be a brief program in the Ferguson Center Theater at just after 6 pm, and then a gallery viewing of art created by our former participants.
We thank all of you for making this program what it is, and we want to honor you. We hope you can join us on the 19th.
The art and information about the program will be on display in the Ferguson Center Gallery from April 12th through the 22nd, and the Gallery will be open from 8 am until 10 pm for viewing.
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This video by Lauren Musgrove documents a celebratory dinner held on 12/8/2015 for the University of Alabama Honors College service learning course “Art to Life,” developed by Cognitive Dynamics Foundation in collaboration with the University. The course pairs undergraduate students of diverse majors with persons who have Alzheimer’s disease or other causes of dementia in an empathy and relationship-building art therapy, reminiscence and storytelling experience. To honor their participants, students host an end-of-semester gala at which leather-bound legacy books fromLifeBio.comare presented to the participants and their families. These books contain student letters, poetry, participant art and life story material. Students also give the participants the art they have created over the semester, and share stories and words of thanks to honor and validate the personhood of their new friends.
Click on the link below to watch the 6 minute video.
Here is an excerpt from the back cover of the book: “Here’s a hope-filled book about Alzheimer’s caregiving. It was written by Marie Marley, PhD – a well-known author on dementia issues – and neurologist Daniel C. Potts, MD, FAAN, both experts on caregiving. With a Foreword by Maria Shriver, this groundbreaking volume will give you hope in the midst of the darkness of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. You can come to terms with your loved one’s condition and free yourself to experience joyous interactions. Part I covers a variety of issues, such as the authors’ belief that people with Alzheimer’s can still enjoy life, how to overcome denial, five especially difficult situations, the role of grief on the journey to acceptance, and letting go of resentment through making peace with God. In Part II the authors provide 55 helpful tips for visiting people with Alzheimer’s. Part III consists of numerous short stories illustrating the authors’ joyous interactions with their loved ones. The stories will warm your heart and light your way along the path to achieving true joy.”
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To improve the quality of life of persons with cognitive disorders (such as Alzheimer’s disease) and their caregivers through education, research, and support of innovative care models which promote human dignity, especially therapies employing the expressive arts and storytelling.
For more information about Cognitive Dynamics and what we do pleasecontact us.
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