Art in Alzheimer's care: promoting well-being in people with late-stage Alzheimer's disease.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the responses of people with late-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) to a creative bonding intervention (CBI). The CBI consisted of simple art activities. Guided by Reed's self-transcendence theory, research questions were "Will persons with late-stage AD show evidence of self-transcendence during the CBI?" and "Will persons with late-stage AD show evidence of well-being during the CBI?" Twelve CBI sessions, documented by videotape and field notes, were conducted with four participants.