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Week of June 15 - June 21, 2008
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Lina Alvarez-VanVleet, left, and her mother Alvina Alvarez , both of Scottsdale, AZ, try documentary photography during a program at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMOCA) in the Banner Alzheimer's Institute Arts Engagement Program. |
With a smile as bright as her red jacket, Alvina Alvarez is a beacon in the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art lobby.
The 73-year-old Phoenix woman confides she's in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease and was hesitant to join the group waiting for a docent-led tour. She feared what people would think of her mental state.
Instead, she says, "they ask us what we think about the art."
Alvarez is part of the Banner Alzheimer's Institute Arts Engagement Program, a trial program in which people with Alzheimer's disease and their care partners make regular, guided visits to the Scottsdale museum, the Phoenix Symphony and the Phoenix Art Museum.
Whether involvement in the arts improves brain function remains to be proved. But art and music, as well as getting out to enjoy them with loved ones, are medicines easy to swallow, with side effects that are nothing but positive.
In a museum exhibit space, Alvarez and her daughter, Lina Alvarez Van Vleet, put their heads together as they examine works by photographer Lyle Ashton Harris. For one of the artist's large pieces, a video plays, its haunting images of people in movement superimposed on a still photo.
"I think the people are remembering something," Alvarez says, her initial reluctance to join the group no longer in evidence.
Alvarez Van Vleet, with vivid memories of a mural her mother painted years ago, is pleased by this rekindled love of art. Mother and daughter went shopping for art supplies recently so Alvarez can paint again.
"We go out for lunch after the museum," the younger woman says, "and it's just a really nice time to enjoy each other's company, when you're not saying, 'OK, do you have any bills to pay or things we need to do around the house?' "
The women aren't alone in experiencing such rewards, says program coordinator Vicki McAllister. The activities are offering Alzheimer's patients "a way to stay engaged, be part of the community and not get isolated at home," she says, while enriching their relationship with their care partner.
Ralph DeLong, 60, of Buckeye, diagnosed with Alzheimer's a year ago, participates in the arts program with his wife, Jane, and says it's restoring a little of the confidence lost when the disease prompted an early retirement. He had trained others in asbestos removal and other environmental-protection programs.
"Sometimes I get kind of confused, and it's hard to find the words," Ralph says.
Jane teases, "Not when you have a wife who can put words in your mouth," and they both laugh.
But confusion isn't apparent at the museum, where Ralph comments on nuances in the art. And at home, he's making ceramic beads again and adding to a bead collection he began while serving overseas in the Air Force.
"Now," Jane says, "we get home from the museum, and we look at our artwork and remember happy moments."
In diagnosing a devastating disease for which science has yet to find answers, it can be too easy for doctors to say, "Here's a prescription. See you," says physician Pierre Tariot, director of the Memory Disorders Center at the Banner Alzheimer's Institute. But offering Food and Drug Administration-approved therapies is only the beginning.
As part of a larger strategy to address patients' overall needs, the Arts Engagement Program appears to be another way to give participants joy and to maximize their independence, he says.
"They're still capable of processing these types of experiences and reflecting on them and relating to loved ones in that context," Tariot says. "Folks are coming back to me in the clinic and saying, 'That was amazing. I never thought this would happen again. It reminded me of when we went to the opera in New York 30 years ago.' Or they'll say, 'I hated that contemporary art, but I can't stop talking about it.' "
For Nancy Disney, 67, of Phoenix, and Bill Bailey, 72, of Scottsdale, music is reason to rejoice these days.
On a Friday morning, they, their spouses and several other couples meet at Symphony Hall with principal timpanist Bruce Pulk of the Phoenix Symphony. He punctuates his talk with sound effects and gestures, encouraging the participants to listen for "the beauty and the beast" in the Mendelssohn and Shostakovich pieces they're about to hear.
Physician Tom Disney says after the concert that music is a welcome alternative to activities his wife, Nancy, once enjoyed but now finds difficult, including the career in real estate cut short by cognitive impairments.
"There are so many losses that go with this disease," he says. "But this is something we can do together. The music provides not only entertainment, but also mental stimulation. It uplifts her and allows her hope."
Bailey and his wife, Marion, have always loved music.
That makes the music part of the arts program a natural fit, although they hope to explore the museums, too. Their participation is leavened by Bill's good-natured acceptance of his disease, a quality not surprising in a man who instant-messages a good buddy every morning using the screen name "Bonkers."
"The music makes Bill feel good," Marion says, "and he loves interacting with other people. How could this not be a positive experience?"
After the museum participants view Harris' photographs, they move outside to take photos of their own with disposable cameras. Bob Pheatt, 85, of Scottsdale, strikes clowning poses for his wife, Esther.
Their session ends with a review of the activities and planning for the next gathering. Before everyone leaves, Bob shares something: "I was orphaned at 9," he says, "and I never dreamed of my life being like this."
He worked for years as an industrial engineer, built two homes for his family and did what was needed on the property. Now, he starts to fix something and can't remember how to put it back together.
But this is not a lament.
"I thank all of you," Bob says to the other Alzheimer's patients and their family members, to Banner and museum staff and volunteers. Then he pats Esther. "And especially you."
MORE INFORMATION:
The Banner Alzheimer's Institute Arts Engagement Program is studying the potential benefits of visits to the Phoenix Art Museum, the Phoenix Symphony and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art for Alzheimer's patients and their care partners.
The program is funded by grants from the Maricopa Partnership for Arts and Culture, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust and St. Luke's Health Initiatives.
Details: 602-239-6928.
BY:
Connie Midey,
The Arizona Republic
SOURCE:
azcentral.com
COPYRIGHT:
Copyright © 2008. The Arizona Republic. All rights reserved.
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