Enjoying activities Making happy memories Living well with dementia
One to One
Arts & Dementia specialist Clare Carswell works on a one to one basis with people living with dementia, at home or in the care home. She can also host them for sessions at her lovely art studio in the Vale of White Horse near to Faringdon or take them out on day trips. She supports them to enjoy a variety of activities, to be creative and to live well with their dementia.
Enjoying activities combats boredom, enables happy social interaction and time to relax and be freed from anxiety. This can be very helpful for family carers too who can have some much needed time for themselves, safe in the knowledge that their loved one is cared for and having a happy time. This is going to help them all have a good day.
Activities can include arts & crafts, music, riding, gardening, reading, cooking, nature rambles, walks, swimming, museum & concert visits, singing, seated exercise. Whenever possible activities include time spent outside in nature as this is always very restorative. Clare encourages people to continue their hobbies and helps them discover new ones.
The earlier that Clare meets a client on their dementia journey the better, as she can get to know them, build trust, understand their preferences and learn to read their cues. She can devise activities that excite them and that will continue to be meaningful and enjoyable for them as their dementia advances.
Clare can continue to work with a client if they transfer to residential care and this can be very helpful as they adjust to new circumstances, offering continuity and enabling continued creativity and personal expression. Clare offers training to care home staff in arts and dementia activities.
Contact Clare to have a chat about your situation and how she may be able to offer support to your family.
Care Homes
BLOSSOM ARTS runs arts and crafts activities for residents in care homes in Oxfordshire. Unlike franchise companies that may offer pre-cut templates and 'off the shelf' activities; as a visual artist Clare brings her extensive experience as well as her love of working with people with memory problems as she devises creative, enjoyable and stimulating activities, and never the same one twice ! Contact Clare to find out more.
Community
BLOSSOM ARTS runs arts and dementia activities for groups in the community. Clare ran Lights Up Chipping Norton for the charity Guideposts for two years and is now working with Age UK Oxfordshire and education researcher Rhonda Riachi from Autumn Gold Education to set up a care and support group for people living with memory problems, and their carers, in Charlbury in West Oxfordshire. Contact Clare to find out more.
Training for activities co-ordinators and care staff
Clare offers training in basic art skills and in how to develop stimulating and enjoyable creative activities for groups or the individual resident in a care home setting. This can be helpful for activities co-ordinators and for care staff who may want to be able to offer meaningful, individually tailored activities to their residents, even if bed-bound.
Contact Clare to find out more.
Mentoring for arts professionals
Clare has been a practising artist, exhibiting widely for many years and she is passionate in her belief in the value of arts professionals like herself training in order to be able to do creative activities with people living with dementia. The skills and creativity that an experienced artist can bring to this work mean that the quality of the experience for the person with dementia is so much greater. It is very enjoyable and rewarding work to do and Clare offers mentoring to other artists who are considering working in this area. Contact Clare to find out more.