The cognitive impact of art-gallery interventions for people with dementia

Dementia is a progressive disease characterised by a widespread impairment of mental functioning including cognitive skills. Research has suggested that arts and health interventions can have positive effects in terms of physical and mental health in people with a dementia. The current study evaluated the impact of two, eight week, art-gallery based interventions, including art-viewing and art-making, for 13 people with dementia and their carers. Audio recordings of these sessions were transcribed and analysed using content analysis. The study sought to identify the impact of the intervention on cognition, in particular, on verbal fluency and memory. The findings suggested that on the whole, the intervention promoted increases in verbal fluency and in memory stimulation, which is consistent with previous research. Despite the methodological limitations inherent in this pilot study, the findings provide rationale for further controlled research and implications for clinical practice in encouraging clinicians to seek out links with community art gallery resources in order to facilitate the development of further interventions of this kind.