What is the role of non-verbal communication in engagement in the arts?

This step explores how arts-based practices can be equally accessible by those living with a dementia who experience a language barrier, either through decreased language abilities or due to cultural language barriers.

Barbara Stephens and Arti Prashar explain how people – including people living with dementia, artists, and carers – can connect with, and contribute to, the arts non-verbally, and how people can make their voices heard even if they are no longer verbal.

You will be encouraged to:

• Think of engagement in the arts as a sensory experience, and by doing so will broaden your appreciation of what it means to participate in, contribute to, or enjoy the arts

• Understand arts-based practices as transferable tools that can be applied to day-to-day life experiences

• Reflect on why people can find it difficult to communicate with others, especially with people who have a dementia diagnosis, by asking ‘What makes us feel that people living with dementia are so different?’

How often do you think about the way in which you use non-verbal communication? If you live with dementia yourself, or if you are a caregiver to somebody who lives with the diagnosis, in what ways have you become increasingly reliant on non-verbal communication (if at all)?

CREDITS We would like to thank Victor Rios/ Spare Tyre for providing the supplementary footage ‘The Garden’ for inclusion in this video.