It is one thing to paint a beautiful mural, but it is another to design one that improves the safety and wellbeing of the people that view it — and that's exactly what Brisbane-based artist Sharron Tancred is doing, for people with dementia.
Key points:
- Artist Sharron Tancred paints murals designed to engage people with dementia and help keep them safe
- The use of colour and images can help provide comfort and ease discomfort by distracting from dangerous areas
- Tancred has noted success in changes of behaviour of some people by distracting them from objects causing distress
But it is not as simple as painting a beautiful scene, Tancred said.
"Dementia, as it progresses, affects their vision and their perception of space," she told ABC Radio Brisbane.
"Their depth-perception changes as well: for instance, they can't perceive very dark spaces, they think they're going to fall into it.
"Likewise, they can't perceive if something is moving towards them.
"Everything has got to be static, in other words."
Dementia is the second leading cause of death in Australia after heart disease and the leading cause of death of women.
Tancred has carved out a niche in creating murals for aged care residents and people with dementia, drawing on her background in graphic design, illustration, interior decorating and colour psychology.
"It just grabbed my imagination that all of my skills combined, could help people who were seeing things a totally different way and alleviate those stresses of being in an locked-in environment," Tancred said.
Psychology and design
Tancred uses luminous colours to enable people with dementia to see and take on the "cues" of the mural.
"With certain cues in environmental design I can say, 'hey, don't stand here, come over here and pet the dog, now come over here and warm your hands by the fire'," she said.
The idea is to encourage the person to approach the welcoming part of the artwork, and in doing so, move them away from dangerous areas like behind doors.
"If I want them to stay away from a space … there might be a goanna in a tree, right above where the [door's] keypad is."
Tancred said it can also change how people with dementia engage with a space.
"Usually when I'm working on-site, I can see changes in behaviour and hear responses from the residents about three-quarters of the way through," she said.
"Once I was working at [an aged care facility] at Wellington Point, in Brisbane and a gentleman had his bedroom right out the front of the main exit door.
"He used to guard this door rather angrily.
"He'd get upset at anyone who was standing in the space … because he was always waiting for his family to come through the door."
But by the time Tancred had come close to to completing the sunset mural she was painting, the man's behaviour had changed.
"He's come out and he's lifted his hand to his forehead and sort of peered, as you do … then he turned around and happily trotted off," she said.
Dementia Australia chief executive, Maree McCabe, said cognitive stimulants like murals and artworks can help to prompt memory.
"We all have favourite colours, we have colours that we love and that can provide a feeling of comfort for people with dementia," she said.
"To be able to look at an artwork or a mural and and find something in there that means something to them … is really important.
Ms McCabe said the use of bright, contrasting colours is important to help people with dementia identify objects.
But it does not just apply to paintings, it could mean using a brightly coloured plate to help foods stand out, or a coloured door or toilet seat.
Alleviating distress through exit diversion
When it comes to deciding what to paint, the architecture of the space and behaviourism of residents all have to be taken into account.
"The mural has to fit within the doorframe, where the door handle is, the colours of the hand railing, the floor, the style of the facility," Tancred said.
Tancred said exits doors can often be a cause of distress for residents who are either waiting for family to walk through them, or not understanding why they cannot exit out of them.
She also uses an "exit diversion" to create scenes that residents can see can but cannot walk towards.
"We don't want them to get stressed about wanting to go there," she said.
That might mean painting a scene that looks of out a window or something beyond a waist-high brick wall.
As well as murals, Tancred has created bright, reusable door wraps to help residents find their way through the facility.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiamh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA4LTMwL211cmFscy1oZWxwaW5nLXRvLXByb21wdC1tZW1vcmllcy1mb3ItcGVvcGxlLXdpdGgtZGVtZW50aWEvMTI2MDM1ODTSASdodHRwczovL2FtcC5hYmMubmV0LmF1L2FydGljbGUvMTI2MDM1ODQ?oc=5
2020-08-29 22:57:00Z
CAIiENfHRbNNlWYx6lsasxb3fu0qFggEKg4IACoGCAow3vI9MPeaCDDc2g4
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Colourful murals are helping 'prompt memories' as well as keeping people with dementia safe - ABC News"
Post a Comment