ix

A Message to
Care Partners
Welcome to Creative Connections!
This manual is for anyone who cares for a person with dementia, whether you are
a family member, friend, or professional care partner. This writing was inspired
by personal experience. As a care partner for my mother, who has Lewy body
dementia, I want to provide other people with what I wish I had learned early in
Moms journey with dementia.
As the family cared for my mother Carolyn in her home, we quickly learned
two things. First, it was a struggle to communicate with her effectively. Second,
there were no accessible activities or groups for her to attend that brought her
joy. As a result, my father Charlie and I read books, attended workshops, and
learned all we could about the most up-to-date best practices in dementia care.
What we found was that everything centered on communication. If Mom
was anxious or confused, it was because she could not communicate what she
needed. We tried to cook with Mom because it was her favorite activity, but she
did not engage with us. Through trial and error and through our own research,
we learned that she needed us to communicate with her and present information
and activities to her in a different way, so that she could participate.
We finally realized we needed to focus on her abilities and discover the ways
in which she could still communicate. We had to figure out how to present things
to her in a way that made sense to her. According to recent brain research, art and
imagination are some of the last skills to be affected by dementia. Could we use
imagination to communicate? We found that we could. The research also showed
us that to help someone successfully cook a meal, create a painting, or button a
shirt, we had to break down these large tasks into manageable steps.
This is what we bring to you in Creative Connections; we give people with
dementia an opportunity to express themselves through creativity by breaking
down the steps of a project to make it meaningful, increasing the likelihood that
they can and will participate.
Based on the knowledge and experience we gained from helping Mom, we
developed a program called Creative Connections, which has been offered to
other people with dementia and their care partners through the Carolyn L. Farrell Foundation for Brain Health with great success.
The foundation collaborated with dementia care expert Jennifer Brush, who
taught us more about communication, environmental cues, and dementia care

Creative Connections in Dementia Care

best practices. We worked with Jennifer to incorporate the Montessori philosophy of education into the art projects for this book. People with dementia are
often confronted with what they are no longer able to do or understand. Montessori principles are designed to focus on what a person is capable of doing.
Through careful observation, the Montessori teacher comes to know each childs
interests, learning style, and personality, so developmental needs can be met. A
teacher chooses activities that will capture the childs attention and encourage engagement. When the child has grasped one concept, a new activity is introduced
that is more complex. We follow the same person-centered approach when working with older adults with dementia. By grabbing the persons interest, focusing
on capabilities, and showing respect, we learn about and get to know the person
so we can interact with and meet the persons needs at an appropriate level of
engagement.
Since 2012, the Carolyn L. Farrell Foundation for Brain Health has been
using the Creative Connections program weekly with great success with many
people with dementia. Not only does the program bring joy to those with dementia, but their care partners are now using in their homes the Montessori
principles they learn through the program to make everyday life better for their
loved one with dementia.
The following information is helpful to keep in mind when reading this
manual:
u The last part of the manual is a color section with 10 meaningful Creative
Connections recipes, or art activities, that can be done one-on-one or in a
group setting. We have found that a small intergenerational group format
works exceptionally well for engaging in the activities (for instance, a grandchild with a parent and their loved one with dementia).
u While the activities focus on art, the main purpose of the concepts in this
manual is to support care partners so they can learn to communicate better
with a loved one or friend with dementia and help the person have a better
quality of life.
u Throughout the manual, we have italicized and bolded certain words to call
attention to them and make reading the manual easier. We also know that
highlighting words in this way may contribute to retaining the information
better. So if a word is italicized and bolded, it is a key concept or value we
want to help you remember.
u You will find special boxes set off from the main text called Stories of Creative Connections. These are true stories of how Creative Connections has
been successful. When we use names in the stories, the names have been
changed for confidentiality, unless it is a story from our own family.

Creative Connections in Dementia Care

u In the manual, we call the person with dementia the artist, and the person
facilitating the art project the guide. Guides can be staff, volunteers, family
members, or other elders. In order to honor people of all different gender
identities, we have written the manual with gender-neutral language.
If you want to learn more about all of the great studies that provided the research
for this manual, please browse the Additional Resources and Bibliography sections
of the manual.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to share with you what we have
learned. We hope it brings joy, understanding, and meaning to you as care partners.

Blessings,
Rev. Katie Norris

xi

Recipe Index
Recipe 1

Watercolor
Doilies

Recipe 6

Recipe 2

Recipe 7

Note Cards

Button Art

Spackle

Recipe 8
Recipe 3

Watercolor
Resist

Stained
Glass
Circles

Recipe 4

Recipe 9

Paper
Mosaics

Paper
Collages

Recipe 5

Recipe 10

4 x 4

Cups

For the Reader

Guides can use the following recipes to engage an artist. The pages are perforated for ease in
making photocopies as well as for laminating. Each recipe has a Demonstrate Steps section that the
guide uses to demonstrate one step at a time for the artist. Once a step is demonstrated, the guide
then asks the artist to follow the step. This demonstrate and follow method allows the artist not to
rely on short-term memory to know or remember which step to do in order to create the art project.
Please remember that each artist is different and may need more or less steps than indicated in the
recipe. The guide may adjust the steps accordingly. Before using an art recipe with an artist, guides
should do the art project themselves to get used to the steps, to know where they could add in more
steps if needed, and to make the project accessible for their particular artist. Most importantly, the
guide should focus on having a meaningful interaction with the artist filled with joy, communication,
connection, and creativity.

Recipe 4

Paper Mosaics
SERVINGS: 1 mosaic

Supplies

Paper Mosaics Setup

Draw a large, simple image (template) on the
light-colored card stock.

Two sets of suppliesone for guide and

one for artist:

(1) light-colored 12 12 piece of

card stock

black permanent marker

mixture of 1 part water, 2 parts Mod

Podge Craft Glue

small colored paper plate for glue

mixture

foam paintbrush

full sheets or scraps of patterned and

solid-colored card stock. (More variety
of papers makes a more colorful
paper mosaic.)

placemat in a solid contrasting color

Set up workspace as shown.

Recipe Notes

The mosaics can be framed after

they dry.

The mosaics can be done in any size,

even as a note card. Just be sure that
the image template is not too small
and remains an outline that is easy
to fill. For example, a heart would be
simple enough to draw onto a note
card and there still would be space to
fill in with the torn paper.

Continued
Creative Connections in Dementia Care: Engaging Activities to Enhance Communication, by Katie Norris and Jennifer Brush.
Copyright 2015 by Health Professions Press, Inc. (www.healthpropress.com)

Recipe 4, p. 2

Paper Mosaics Modifications

Demonstrate Steps

1. Pick a color or

pattern of card
stock and tear the
paper into small
pieces.

1
Preparation activities:

2. Dip paintbrush

into glue mixture

and spread glue
over a small
section of the
template.

3. Place the torn

pieces of paper
onto the glue.

For artists who need more assistance:

If more cueing is needed, draw each

section of the template in a marker
color that coordinates with the colors
of paper to be used. For example,
draw the petals of a flower in red and
the stem in green and provide red
and green paper for the mosaic.

If the artist has trouble tearing paper,

the guide can start the tear for the
artist or tear the paper for the artist.
The guide may also provide already
torn paper for the artist.

4. Encourage the
artist to repeat
steps 13 with
different colors
and patterns of
paper until the
template is filled
with a mosaic
pattern of torn
paper.

For artists who need less assistance:

Provide a glitter glue pen for the artist

to outline the finished mosaic.

Chipboard letters or stickers can be

used to add embellishment to the
finished mosaic.

For a project that might take a few

sessions, the guide can create a
template depicting a famous work of
art and choose colors of paper to tear
that match the artwork. Some good
options for this are Van Goughs Starry
Night and Monets Water Lilies.

5. If at any time

Demonstrate drawing a template to

the artist to enable the artist to create
the template for the mosaic.

the paper pieces

are sticking up and
need to be glued
down more, brush
glue on top of the
paper to seal the
pieces down.

Creative Connections in Dementia Care: Engaging Activities to Enhance Communication, by Katie Norris and Jennifer Brush.
Copyright 2015 by Health Professions Press, Inc. (www.healthpropress.com)