A Picture Worth a Thousand Words
“I
found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other
way--things I had no words for.”
-Georgia O'Keeffe
She
sits silently at the table and watches me without expression as I lay out the
contents of my plastic bin across from her. I unroll the large cotton canvas
onto the table, place paintbrushes at each seating and open the tempura paints.
I don’t say a word. I pick up each paint bottle one at a time and hold it up
for a better view. I appear as if I’m trying to decide which color to use
first, but that isn’t the case. I’m watching her, waiting for a brief change in
her facial expression that signals I am holding the most perfect color to paint
with. That color is pink.
I open
the paint and begin pouring it onto the canvas, making large dramatic circles
with each color. Joyce’s eyes follow my every movement but her face remains
expressionless. I put the paintbrush in Joyce’s hand. I pick up my paintbrush
and drag it through the paint, hoping that she will follow my lead. She slowly
starts moving the paint around with her brush. After a moment she puts the
brush down and uses her hands to paint the canvas. Suddenly, something remarkable happens, Joyce begins to
speak.
Joyce
starts telling the other residents, “It’s not messy” and asks them if they are
“enjoying it.” Joyce’s daughter and granddaughter are visiting with her and
appear shocked. Her daughter explains to me that, due to Alzheimer’s disease,
Joyce hardly speaks anymore and when she does it often doesn’t make sense. She
also tells me that Joyce used to be a grade school teacher. I realized that in
that moment, while painting with her hands, Joyce was taken back to a time that
felt very familiar and safe to her.
Communication
is a basic human need. It’s how we express emotions, feelings, thoughts, ideas
and it’s how we connect to another person. However, for many people with
Alzheimer’s and other related dementia, communication can be challenging. As
the disease progresses the parts of the brain that control language, reasoning
and thoughts become damaged. This can make speaking and understanding speech
incredibly difficult for our memory care residents.
Art
therapy, simply put, stimulates the brain. It can trigger memories, improve
communication and produce a positive social experience. As caregivers, we must
realize that self-expression doesn’t always need to be communicated verbally.
It is important we provide an alternative means by which our residents can
express themselves. Art therapy offers a way for Dementia and Alzheimer’s
residents to express themselves when words fail them.
