Poetry in care homes

We heard from Dr Simon Curtis about the effectiveness of music therapy for people suffering from dementia. Now that we’ve spoken to Melvyn about how poetry was helpful in reconnecting with his mother as she began to lose her memories, we wanted to share some more information with you about poetry therapy for dementia patients.

We’re including links to some articles about reading workshops in care homes. Like music therapy, this is an avenue of non-pharmaceutical treatment that people are beginning to explore in research. The results of studies suggest that poetry can not only rekindle memories, but can also bring back a personality that friends and family thought had been permanently lost. You can find out more about these studies by following the links below:

• ‘Older People & Dementia’, The Reader Organisation
• ‘The rhyme and reason of reading to dementia patients’, The Reader Organisation
• ‘Dementia Awareness Week 2015’, The Reader Organisation

We’re also including the following links to some full research papers, in case you’d like to read about the studies in more detail:

• ‘Read to Care: An Investigation into Quality of Life Benefits of Shared Reading Groups for People Living with Dementia’, The Reader Organisation
• ‘A Literature-Based Intervention for Older People Living with Dementia’, The Reader Organisation

Feel free to share any thoughts, reflections and responses to these articles with your fellow learners in the comments section below.