Co-creativity, wellbeing and dementia

Researchers: Julian West and Jackie Walduck

Building on initial work which took place as part of the Wellcome funded project Created Out of Mind (2016-18), this current project aims to develop a deeper understanding of the co-creative approach. Earlier research has indicated that working co-creatively through the arts might be particularly beneficial for those living with dementia and has shed new light on the nature of wellbeing and agency, re-thinking of them as dynamic and relational, rather than as fixed states. Agency is known to be a major factor in supporting wellbeing for individuals; it is, however, commonplace to assume that people living with dementia lack agency, and this in turn negatively affects their health and wellbeing. We want to investigate how music and dance, and in particular working through free improvisation, can have a role in supporting the agency of people with dementia. We are doing this with people living with dementia, their families and professional care staff.

The role of artists who practice in this field is similarly neglected, and there is little information about the ways that professional musicians and dancers deploy their skills, knowledge and technique. This project aims to work with the artists to understand how they draw upon what is often tacit knowledge built up over years of training and continuing practice to carry out this work. Musicians and dancers are exploring how they can come together as a transdisciplinary creative ensemble with a shared language.