Last Thursday we spent the day in Preston with Lancashire Workforce Development Partnership. We spent the day working with a group of 10 care professionals investigating how participatory storytelling can be used to improve the health and well-being of people with dementia. The session was inspiring and though provoking, in particular around the consideration of why we may choose to use creative storytelling as a specific engagement tool. Here are some of the ideas that we came up with:
- An opportunity for celebration
- An opportunity to share
- A way to keep people moving
- A great way to stimulate the release of endorphins
- A way to encourage group discussion
- A social activity that brings people together
- A way to stimulate active memory
- A way to maintain the normality of interaction and routine
- A way to maintain independence
- A way to stimulate confidence building and self-esteem
- A source of debate
- A way for people to get to know each other better
- A way to meet individual needs and skills
- Creates a sense of achievement
- Maintains self-esteem
- Gives us an opportunity to learn from service users / patients / clients / each other
