The Benefits of Art in Helping Alzheimer’s Patients Overcome Obstacles
If you have a loved one with Alzheimer’s, or if you’re in early stages, then you know how scary and confusing the upcoming years seem. Alzheimer’s Disease is a difficult one for families to overcome. It carries all kinds of obstacles that are foreign and overwhelming. Often, families will look to London care homes to help take care of their family member. At Sharon Village Care Homes, we see this as the first step towards working through this disease.
As a family, and as a patient, there’s more you can do to make your time with Alzheimer’s a little bit easier. It has been proven that art is a top way of pushing through the obstacles and slowing down the effects of Alzheimer’s. London retirement communities often include art practices for this reason. Art is a great hobby, and a fantastic way to keep your mind as sharp as possible. Here are a couple of the benefits of art that Sharon Village Care Homes has found for dealing with Alzheimer’s.
Reconnect and remind
It’s well known that memories of music are some of the last to leave an Alzheimer’s patient, but what you may not realize is that the visual arts can have the same effect of bringing back memories. Patients paint scenes or objects from their past that help to link them to their life before Alzheimer’s struck. The act of art opens gates to access memories that the patient and his or her family may have thought were lost.
Help patients make sense of their new world
Art therapy for Alzheimer’s patients helps them make sense of the world around them. Patients can map out their feelings and perceptions of their new experiences with their disease and in their London retirement communities. It can connect them with their own feelings in ways that will help them sort out how they can come to terms with the overwhelming changes that are constantly occurring while they’re in London care homes.
Ignites the neurons
Art, like many other intellectually stimulating activities, activates neurons. Painting and sketching, even sculpting, can help keep your mental faculties running. This can slow down the effects of Alzheimer’s and keep the mind as sharp as possible. As it activates the mind, art also helps to increase patient’s focus, concentration, and attention span.
Boost self-esteem
As the effects of Alzheimer’s begin to strike, patient’s self-esteem takes a serious cut as they struggle to understand their new mental state. This can make dealing with the disease even tougher. Reconnecting to past memories and to a creative, mentally stimulating hobby boosts the self-esteem of Alzheimer’s patients in Sharon Village Care Homes to counteract this side effect.
Improves social connections
Especially in London retirement communities, painting and art practices often take place in group settings. This offers patients the opportunity to meet others in their London care homes, including other Alzheimer’s patients. It also offers opportunity for families to socialize and connect with their families. This becomes a sharing opportunity, and a method of communication so that families can understand their family member’s experiences with Alzheimer’s.
The best years are still to come in London care homes. Take a tour of Sharon Village Care Homes today to see if our London retirement communities are right for your family member or yourself.
