A letter from Carla Heritage, Executive Director, Riverside Living Center:
"I was sold on your program before you got here,but after I witnessed the first session I was amazed beyond words. I’m not sure I can adequately express how Art Without Boundaries has impacted our facility.
The residents have found a sense of purpose as they created these wonderful paintings.
The attention they have received has given them true joy and fulfillment. These elders are in the winter of their life and this experience has brought a breath of springtime amid the doldrums of those winter days.
Our family members are touched as they see the smiles on the faces of their loved ones.
Not only are they surprised and amazed at this newfound talent but the paintings give them priceless treasures to hold onto.
The staff members were spellbound as they watched you work. Many couldn’t tear themselves away from the observation window for fear they would miss something. This opened the door to their own creativity as they watched you work. Their enthusiasm has been sparked as they have seen what our residents can do.
Many caregivers are still experiencing changes in behavior from once difficult residents that had an opportunity to paint with you.
This program has been an invaluable means of connecting the community to this facility.
People are coming into the facility to see what everyone is talking about. The media coverage about Art Without Boundaries has given us numerous marketing opportunities.
The money I have spent on Art Without Boundaries has returned ten fold in so many different ways.
I want to thank you for sharing your gifts with our residents, staff, family members, and community. I want you to know that I would be more than happy to answer any questions others may have about Art Without Boundaries and to share with them the joy this experience has brought to Riverside Living Center.
Carla Heritage
Riverside Living Center
Piedmont, SC
Reprint of Anderson Independent-Mail article
Something's happening here:
Therapy helps dementia patients
make connections through art
By Jennifer Jones
Anderson Independent-Mail
February 25, 2006
People stood and stared, awestruck, at the paintings that hung on the walls of the Riverside Living Center amidst the soft buzz of scattered comments and conversation. There were pictures of flowers and streams, palm trees and oceans: "Flower for my Friend" by Louise E., "To See Sister Sarah," by Ruth P., "A Garden to Share" by Cecil L.
The paintings symbolize a breakthrough, a connection made with personalities changed by Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
Noell Hammer, the former executive director of a small Alzheimer’s Association chapter and founder of the Institute of MnemeTherapy, denies being a scientist of any sort and doesn’t pretend to be. But something is happening in people’s brains, she said. Her unique painting program, Art Without Boundaries, utilizes what she calls MnemeTherapy (Mneme is the short name of Mnemosyne, the Greek goddess of Memory and mother of the Muse) to stimulate synaptic activity in those with dementia.
"It’s not art therapy because our goal is different. Patients with cognitive impairment often can't express their feelings. Our process is multidisciplinary — storytelling, praise, movement, singing and painting. I’m drawing from all of these things because all of them do something different in the brain," Ms. Hammer said. "It’s about brain plasticity and the ability of even a damaged brain to adapt. We believe what we’re doing is actually reorienting and re-mapping the brain to find routes around the damage."
She said she has a working hypothesis as to why this is working to reach people but is waiting on the research to talk about the specifics publicly. Whatever the reason for the program’s success with dementia, it’s plain to see that something is indeed happening.
Angela Childers, a resident care tech at Riverside Living Center, usually had a difficult time with one of the residents. The woman was very combative, hitting and biting those trying to dress her or bathe her. After a session with Ms. Hammer, however, something in the woman seemed to change.
"I thought she was a different patient. It was like night and day. She’s had a wonderful, wonderful day. I wouldn’t have believed it had I not seen it," Ms. Childers said. "She’s happy and she’s told me she loves me, I’ll bet six times today."
Carla Heritage, executive director of the Riverside Living Center, said there are no words to describe the differences she’s seen in the residents.
"I just wish everyone could see this. The families are just amazed. They’ll stand and stare at the paintings," she said.
Forty-four residents’ paintings will be auctioned at a special gala on March 23 to raise enough money to receive Mnemetecnic Therapy on a regular basis, making the program self-funding.
"The purpose of the gala is to pull the community into the facility and it brings the community to the residents," Ms. Heritage said. "These people are in the winter of their lives and this program has brought a breath of spring. They get a sparkle in their eyes. They’re so proud of what they’ve done and they know that they did it."
Riverside Living Center resident Mary Stone, dressed in a blue sweatshirt and red sweatpants, sits in a wheelchair at a table spread with varied acrylic paints. Ms. Hammer sits by her side and calls her Miss Mary.
"Just like baking a cake. Have you ever baked a cake, Miss Mary? A little of this and a little of that..."
She gives instructions. Pull it across. Pull it back. Beautiful, she says. That’s perfect. Do it again.
Her voice is soft but encouraging. The praise is constant.
"Alzheimer’s is a very negative disease. It’s the ‘You can’t do it ’ disease: You can’t do that anymore. You can’t go there by yourself. You can’t do your job. You can’t do your hobbies. You can’t golf. You can’t drive. You can’t, you can’t, can’t," Ms. Hammer said. "What we’re doing is saying, ‘You can. This is something you can do. And you’re good at it.’ Praise is powerful medicine. We’re giving them a chance to express themselves creatively. We’re giving them a chance to say, ‘I did this. I’m proud. I accomplished something.’"
Blue, white, shades of pink. Each one taking a step further in Miss Mary’s memory.
She remembers sitting in her playhouse as a child 80 years ago, painting and drawing. The stories start surfacing.
"When did you get to be such a good painter, Miss Mary?" Ms. Hammer asks.
Trees, water, sky. A picture appears and something connects inside. There’s recognition of things past.
Miss Mary likes pinks, she says. Bright-pink polish covers her fingernails.
They talk about colors she wants to paint with. They sing hymns, walking together down long-forgotten pathways in Miss Mary’s memory. She has no trouble remembering the words.
"Amazing Grace...how sweet the sound..."
Her daddy always had a garden, Miss Mary says. She pulled weeds and picked tomatoes so her momma could can them.
"I once was lost, but now I’m found..."
Jennifer Jones, Anderson Independent Mail
