From the Field

Kemper Art Museum engages Alzheimer's patients, caregivers

October 1, 2012

According to AAMD's annual statistical survey, over 70 AAMD member museums offer programming for people suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia. One of these programs is Kemper Art Reaches Everyone, or KARE, at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in Saint Louis.

KARE, which is designed for people with early to moderate Alzheimer's and their caregivers, first began in September of 2012. The program was developed by Allison Taylor, manager of education programs at the Kemper, in partnership with Saint Louis non-profit Maturity and its Muse and the faculty and students from the Washington University Department of Psychology. The program includes discussions in the galleries followed by art-making activities.

Dr. Brian Carpenter, of the Washington University Department of Psychology, says KARE and similar programs are beneficial to Alzheimer's and dementia patients because they help participants to "connect with some of the capabilities that are still preserved even as the disease progresses," while also providing an essential social outlet for both patients and caregivers.

More information on KARE is available at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum website

 

 

Image: Alice Bloch leads Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers through a series of light exercises during Kemper Art Reaches Everyone, a new program sponsored by the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis, in collaboration with Maturity and Its Muse. Photo by Whitney Curtis/WUSTL Photo Services.