Bringing Dance to People with Dementia: A Training Program
Learn how to use music, movement, props and humor to engage people with dementia to express themselves, be more lively, and have fun.
Saturday and Sunday, June 2 and 3, 2012
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
2101 Washington Street, Newton, MA 02462
Cost: $175 by April 30; $195 after April 30
Lunch is complimentary.
Register online at http://octaband.com/workshops.htm or send message.
Testimonial
" Everyone enjoyed your program yesterday. All of the residents were engaged the entire time and not one person fell asleep! I will reach out to you in the near future so we can enjoy your fun upbeat program again!"
Program Description
This training program is designed to teach creative arts therapists, activity professionals, caregivers and others to create opportunities for people with dementia to dance and move joyfully. Topics include relevant information about dementia, elements of dance, use of music and props, pertinent issues and themes, group leadership, structuring groups, and identifying goals and benefits. Participants will have the opportunity to observe, participate, and lead parts of 2 one-hour groups with people with dementia and process afterwards.
Why dance with people with dementia?
Recent research has shown extensive benefits of dance for people with dementia, including that dance: stimulates social interaction, enhances mood, slows the progression of cognitive symptoms, reduces agitation, increases alertness, awakens positive memories and associations, helps maintain range of movement, flexibility, and strength, and alleviates anxiety, loneliness, and isolation. In addition, it demonstrably improves their quality of life and sense of vitality.
Who benefits from this training?
- recreation and activity therapists
- dance/movement, music, and expressive therapists
- dance teachers
- caregivers
- anyone who enjoys dancing and working with people with dementia
- ultimately, the people with dementia to whom one brings this program
Trainer: Donna Newman-Bluestein, MEd, BC-DMT, LMHC
Board-certified by the American Dance Therapy Association and and licensed as a mental health counselor in Massachusetts, dance/movement therapist Donna Newman-Bluestein has worked for 34 years with people ages 3 to 106, whose wide range of abilities and special needs include dementia, mental illness, chronic pain, and coronary artery disease. Confronted with a group of people with dementia who were difficult to engage, Donna designed and manufactured the OctabandⓇ which is being used successfully with this population. Donna has taught for Lesley University’s Graduate School of Arts & Social Sciences for the past 19 years and is Public Relations Chairperson for the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA).
Internationally recognized for her contributions to dementia care, Donna co-wrote with dance/movement therapist Heather Hill and published in the September 2010 Journal of Dementia Care “Movement as the medium for connection, empathy, playfulness”, explaining what dance therapy means for people with dementia, and the role it can play as an integral part of person-centered care. Donna conducts workshops throughout the U.S.
In addition to the current training, Donna has developed and delivers experiential and interactive trainings in Nonverbal Communication for Caregivers of People with Dementia: An Embodied Approach. Along with Dr. Meg Chang, she received the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America’s 2010 Brodsky Grant under the aegis of the Marian Chace Foundation of the ADTA. Together Newman-Bluestein and Chang have published a training manual to accompany these trainings.
Donna brings to her workshops and seminars her passionate belief that everyone can dance, that dance improves the quality of life of the individuals who do it, transforms the space between those individuals, and makes the world a better place.
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