Arts Participation: Counterbalancing Forces to the Social Stigma of a Dementia Diagnosis.

A diagnosis of dementia profoundly impacts a person in terms of both the functional progression of the disease and the social stigma associated with the diagnosis. A growing body of research demonstrates the effectiveness of innovative programs such as the Alzheimer's Poetry Project, Meet Me at MoMA, and TimeSlips™ in counterbalancing social stigma by building a social and emotional framework for strength-based living for people diagnosed with dementia through arts participation. These programs focus on supporting autonomy and generativity through creative expression to help sustain the social, emotional, and community fabric of people's lives in the face of significant counterbalancing forces (e.

The arts, health, and aging in america: 2005-2015.

In advance of the White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA) in 1981, 1995, and 2005, the arts and aging communities held mini-conferences to ensure that arts, culture, and livability were part of larger public policy discussions. This article takes a historical look at recommendations from the 2005 WHCoA Mini-Conference on Creativity and Aging in America, including arts in health care, lifelong learning, and livability through universal design. Overarching recommendations in 2005 requested investments in research, including cost-benefit analyses; identification of best practices and model programs; program dissemination to broaden the availability of arts programs.