People living with Dementia transform mental health centre with art | News

Artworks by people living with dementia and their carers have been used to transform a refurbished mental health centre into a fresh vibrant space, which offers a new setting for health, wellbeing, and cognitive stimulation therapies on Brewery Road.

As part of a national programme to transform community mental health care throughout the UK, the North London Mental Health Partnership has invested in new clinics in the community to provide localised care to those who need it. 

Art therapy is one of the many activities older adults living with early-onset dementia can undertake, and it has been shown that engagement with creative activity can significantly improve wellbeing, increase confidence, and prevent social decline. 

The Partnership’s Islington Memory Service worked with the charity Arts 4 Dementia, and local artist Melissa Fry, providing sessions for people with Early Stage Dementia, to produce artworks inspired by local Islington landmarks to adorn the walls of the new centre. 

A team from Barry Morgan Limited, the building company who designed and built the space, donated their time and expertise to install the artwork.
 

What the experts said

Ian Sherriffs, Head of Service for Ageing and Mental Health in the Camden Division of the North London Mental Health Partnership, said “The space was very white, very bland, very clinical. We wanted a create a different health setting, one that was welcoming, creative and service user led. The collaboration with Arts 4 Dementia and Melissa Fry has achieved this with great success and we now how a unique space for people to receive support with their mental health, assessments for memory concerns, cognitive stimulation therapy groups (to name a few) that can be celebrated."

“To make the space dementia-friendly and ground it in the identity of the area, we looked to use scenes and objects from Islington as a source of inspiration. Our service users, who are  residents of Islington put these suggestions forward, demonstrating that this is a project driven by service users and their carers.”

“The space now celebrates how you can live well  with dementia. The space is now grounded in the area and its purpose. Otherwise, it’s just an industrial estate in Islington. If your sense of belonging is diminishing, having a space that reminds you of your community, sense of self, and those around you, is extremely important. This is what we have tried to achieve with this space." 

“As part of our Older Adult Clinical Strategy, the provision of flexible and responsive care until end of life is an essential element of the care offered. Within Camden and Islington Memory Services, this is central to everything we do, with diagnosis to end of life services that offer wraparound support, through a multi-disciplinary team approach.” 

“This is a really good example of service user involvement, collaboration with wider external partners, and not just a health project – but a health project that has been enhanced through collaboration with voluntary sector involvement.”

Arts Manager for Arts 4 Dementia, Roberta Mazur, who led the development and curation of the project, commented: “We asked ourselves ‘How can we furnish this space with art, which is achievable, in such a short space of time?’ Drawing workshops, painting workshops, and textile work takes time, whereas screen printing has more of an immediate impact. There were some early suggestions from service users of textile art, however this would have taken a lot of time and would have been challenging to display as a permanent installation.”

"This has been the perfect collaboration. I have felt comfortable coming into the space as the arts manager, Ian and his team have led on dementia care, and Melissa is the artist. This is a service-user driven project, in a familiar care setting using a holistic approach, where everyone has brought their own expertise to the table to create a powerful and inspiring message, with a legacy." 

“This project is so connected to place and community, and we are really experiencing this with the stories that are coming out during the printing process. For example, Eric and Jackie are father and daughter. They used to walk in Finsbury Park when she was a child, now they walk there again on lunch breaks after her father’s diagnosis. When creating her print, Jackie wanted to look at Finsbury Park in a new way and create a new memory with her dad, on top of the memories they had before from childhood.” 

“Following the overwhelming success of this project, we are hoping to do further work with the NHS. We can look after all the project development side of things, artist selection, artwork curation, space design, framing, and creating a commemorative catalogue. Please do get in touch with us if you would like to launch a similar project. ”
Arts 4 Dementia use the arts to embed creative activity in people's daily routine. Programmes are delivered in collaboration with artists and local cultural organisations to provide inspiring arts activities for people living with early-stage dementia. They aim to demonstrate the enormous creative potential of people living with dementia. Life isn't lost after a dementia diagnosis."

 “We want to empower people and inspire people to learn something new. This is as much for the carers and the companions as it is for the people with dementia. We encourage people to come to workshops with their loved ones. It creates something new within their daily routine.”

Ian concluded: “I believe this is a replicable project. It is service-user driven from the beginning. It grounds people in their community and their self, demonstrating how you can live well with dementia. The project not only brings together health services, voluntary services, and people living with dementia, but has also created new memories for carers and loved ones to cherish.”

Watch this short walk through video to see the space in action

What some of the artists said

David used to have a career as a designer, working for organisations including IBM. He focused his artwork on Camden Passage, which is along one of his favourite walking routes with his wife. They particularly like the Austrian Restaurant there. They both attended the exhibition together and with David introducing his wife as ‘the love of my life’ and David’s wife reacted  ‘I was pleased he got out of the house to attend the art classes. He seemed happy and closer to his old self when he got back. We go there quite a lot, it’s a nice place.’ 

Accompanied to the class by daughter Jackie, Eric chose to create artwork of a tunnel over the canal for his screen print. “I was in the Navy and did 10 tours to Australia. Seeing the picture reminded me of memories of my youth, so that’s why I chose it. It’s nice to be reminded of the past, but also get out and learn a new skill” 

Jackie commented “I chose Finsbury Park, because it reminded me of when my dad used to take me there as a kid. And now, I take him for a walk around the park on my lunch break. I’m really glad I came to the class and created some new memories with my dad." 

What the visitors to the exhibition said
Mandy Clayton remarked with delight. “Everyone coming together has been so heartwarming. It’s very inspiring that what we see today has been so collaborative with service users, carers, staff, the voluntary sector, and the art community. What has been produced draws people to engage with the space and connect with the local community. This used to be just a waiting room, very clinical, but now it draws you in and you want to look around”

Frazer Pegler, an Engineer working for Barry Morgan Limited, oversaw the whole construction project of the site on Brewery Road, which lasted over 6 months. “It was a big team effort on the initial construction project, but looking at it now with the artwork up and not just plain white walls, the whole place has been transformed and it’s so welcoming to everyone. It’s nice to see it optimised and know it’s going to be well used. I’m delighted to have been part of the construction and I get a great sense of achievement at this brilliant team effort.”