Roger Clough 

Special film screenings to get people with dementia singing in the rain

Roger Clough: A project in Lancaster giving those with dementia and their family members the chance to go out and enjoy movies together is proving a hit
  
  

Older people cinema screenings dukes theatre lancaster
Winifred and Richard Holt with Ann and Ray Dixon after a film at the Dukes theatre in Lancaster. Photograph: Steve Pendrill photography Photograph: Steve Pendrill photography

What would improve the quality of older people's lives in the areas where they live? That was the question a project undertaken by Age UK Lancashire set out to answer. A powerful thread through the research, conducted between May 2010 and September 2013 in Carnforth, Nelson and Skelmersdale, was the problems of living with dementia, even though it was not the primary focus of the research.

Some recurring themes will be familiar to anyone who works with people with dementia: the difficulties of getting a diagnosis; the lack of support; and the importance of respite, day centres and advice. Less well documented is the importance for many people of a continuing relationship with their partner or parent. Typically, the support that is offered is for one partner and assumes that the person without dementia wants a break from their responsibilities.

It is difficult to find language that conveys the reality of the experience of living alongside someone with dementia: one person becomes defined as a "carer", the other as the person with the condition. There is a pervasive attitude that sees the person with dementia becoming progressively a non-person: outsiders often fail to recognise the love, friendship and interaction that still exists between them. At its extreme this is found in the response of a hospital doctor to a relative seeking the best for her loved one. She was told to stop thinking about him as "he has no quality of life".

In order to keep treating the person with dementia as an individual, this project stopped using the word "carer", opting instead for the term "family member". The project also attempted to capture the experience of two people living together who wanted, in whatever ways were possible, to carry on doing things together. It became apparent from the research that there were too few opportunities available to allow this to happen.

In a bid to rectify this, Age UK Lancashire decided to work with the Dukes theatre in Lancaster to run dedicated film screenings for people with dementia. While the general public were welcome to attend, the cinema's environment was adapted to be as supportive as possible for those with dementia: loud music was turned off; artistic signs to lavatories were changed to clearly printed "men" and "women"; exit signs were lit more brightly throughout the performance; additional volunteers were available both before and during the performance; and there were training sessions for staff.

The first film, Singing in the Rain, was screened in February 2013. The choice was deliberate: people with dementia and family members wanted musicals as the tunes help to carry the story and are therefore more likely to be remembered.

The format has proved popular. From a one-off pilot, a regular pattern has developed: every six weeks or so from 12.30 onwards, people arrive for a drink and pastry that are included in the admission fee for the film. Some choose to buy lunch. The film starts in the early afternoon and there is an interval with singing for the audience and ice creams available.

Word soon got out: from the early screenings, when perhaps 20 to 30 people came, the typical attendance is now 60 to 80. Up to a quarter of attendees have been younger people who have come simply because they want to see the film - the screenings are advertised alongside all the other movies the cinema shows. In exit questionnaires, people have been supportive of the project's aims, even if they do not need additional support. There is no doubt that a large part of the attraction for those who are living with dementia is that the event is an ordinary, social activity in a place that anyone might go to meet others. On the occasions when behaviour does not conform to the norms of cinema attendance – someone claps in time to the music or joins in the singing – there has been no embarrassment.

Following the film programme's success, Age UK Lancashire and the Dukes introduced creative arts workshops for older people including those with dementia. The workshops involve dance, storytelling and singing where the emphasis is on participants using their voices to make music together rather than singing old songs. In the intervals of the films someone has played the piano on stage, the words of songs have been projected on to a screen, and the audience members join in as they want. For someone like me, who loves singing but is only too aware of the limitations of my voice, the interval music has become one of the most enjoyable features of the events.

As the research director of the project, it is the joyousness of the occasions that stands out. A man who regularly comes with his mother-in-law who lives in a residential home wrote in after one film: "Thank you for organising the film and singalong. She was a bit down the day before yesterday but the singing perked her up no end." Another said: "It's the time beforehand that's really important. It's a chance to be with other people who understand, and it's good fun!" Another person, whose parents had been to see Calamity Jane, said her mother was singing Whip-crack-away for three weeks afterwards.

I have also been surprised and moved by the impact of the activities on the Dukes' theatre staff. One employee said that he had met someone in a corridor, clearly uncertain of where he was meant to be. He went up and directed him back to the foyer, adding that in the past he would not have had the confidence to talk to someone whose behaviour was a little out of the ordinary.

When someone develops dementia, they often go out less. There are numerous reasons: anxiety about the behaviour of the person with dementia, the reaction of others or the suitability of the setting; or there may be too many logistical problems – from sorting transport to ordering drinks. The films and creative arts events have offered activities that are enjoyable in a setting that is both supportive and used by the local community.

They were initially developed as part of the Big Lottery-funded research, then backed by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and are now subsidised by Age UK Lancashire and the Dukes while further financial support is sought. In time they may become viable without extra financial support. The intention is to expand the existing programme and to replicate it elsewhere. This will require be an understanding of the continuing relationships that matter both to the person with dementia and the person without.

As Pat Craig, whose husband Ian has dementia, says: "It was something normal that we were doing together. I could relax. I really enjoyed the whole thing, we had lunch, made a day of it. It's lovely meeting people who are not afraid to talk to us! It stops us being isolated at home."

Managing Our Lives: a dialogue with older people about what would help them lead fuller lives is available at http://bit.ly/1xKFCRC. The next screening is Some Like it Hot on 27 October. Details at dukes-lancaster.org

 

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