Psychosocial interventions and museums

Previous research has shown that people with dementia and carers derive wellbeing-related benefits from group art-viewing, and that facilitated museum object handling is effective in increasing subjective wellbeing for people with a range of health conditions. The present study aimed to compare the impact of these activities on subjective wellbeing of people with dementia and carers.

A quasi-experimental crossover design was used. People with early to middle stage dementia and their respective carers (N = 66) attended a museum session in small groups where they participated in three activities: museum object handling, a refreshment break and art-viewing. Visual analogue scales were used to rate subjective wellbeing pre and post object-handling and art-viewing.

Mixed-design ANOVAs indicated wellbeing significantly increased for people with dementia and carers during the museum session irrespective of the order in which they participated in object-handling and art-viewing. Analysis of pre and post-condition scores across pooled orders indicated wellbeing significantly increased from object-handling and art-viewing for carers; wellbeing for people with dementia significantly increased from object-handling; the increase from art-viewing was not statistically significant. A refreshment break did not produce significant change in wellbeing for either group. An end-of-intervention questionnaire indicated that experiences of the session were positive.

Limitations and directions for future research were discussed. Results provided a rationale for partnership working between museums and healthcare professionals.