The University of Stirling has helped people living with dementia in East Dunbartonshire care homes to create digital self portraits as part of a stimulating creative arts project.
A short film displaying the portraits will be shown in schools within the local authority to help raise awareness of dementia and promote East Dunbartonshire as a dementia friendly community.
The film has been released to coincide with Dementia Awareness Week (18-25 June 2012).
The Faces of Dementia project has been signed up to by all East Dunbartonshire Care Homes. The project embraces modern technology and encourages creativity and self expression as participants design self portraits on computer tablets. This project is being run by East Dunbartonshire Council alongside EDICT (East Dunbartonshire Inclusion through Creative Therapies) and the University of Stirling Dementia Services Development Centre.
Professor June Andrews, Director of the Dementia Services Development Centre, University of Stirling said: “It is wonderful to see the development of the use of creative arts and technology as therapy for people with dementia and this in turn reflects their creative abilities. This is an empowering project which we are delighted to be a part of.”
Convener of Social Work at East Dunbartonshire Council, Councillor Michael O’Donnell said: “This short film is a fantastic example of the ground breaking developments the council is making in supporting people with dementia and raising awareness of the condition within our community.”
He continued: “By working in partnership with other organisations, we are delivering services of an extremely high standard and I am delighted to learn that this particular project has been nominated for the first Scotland’s Dementia Awards in both the Best Partnership categories and the Best Dementia Friendly Community Initiative. “