Puppet therapy putting smiles on faces

An art therapy program aims to improve the wellbeing of aged care residents with dementia.

An interactive art therapy program incorporating puppetry aims to improve the wellbeing of aged care residents living with dementia.

Called Forever Young – and developed by the Terrapin Puppet Theatre in Hobart in collaboration with the University of Tasmania – the program draws on a number of therapeutic approaches and combines them through the medium of puppetry, with positive results.

“Residents interact with puppets in a way that they won’t interact with people,” program manager Danielle Jackson told Australian Ageing Agenda. “There was a lady … staff advised me that she hadn’t spoken for weeks, and she sat up and engaged with this puppet.”

Throughout 2021, Terrapin worked closely with aged care facilities across Hobart to explore the therapeutic benefits of puppetry for residents living with dementia.

Still a work in progress, the program has been purpose-built for the aged care setting and has been thoroughly evaluated every step of the way. “We have taken onboard every piece of feedback and incorporated that into what will be the finished product,” said Ms Jackson. “It is a deliberate and intentional product for the people it’s going to meet.”

Art therapy is a hot topic at the moment, with discussions on “how the arts play a role in wellbeing and what the arts can offer opposed to other sorts of interactions or other sorts of therapies.” It delivers results because “the arts are humanistic – it’s interaction; it’s relationship; it’s connection,” she added.

It allows families to reconnect with their loved ones in a new way

Ms Jackson first began using art therapy in aged care at a Montefiore facility in New South Wales, where she recognised the benefits of drama for people experiencing cognitive decline.

Puppetry is especially effective for engaging people with dementia because it’s non-confrontational, Ms Jackson told AAA. Residents are immediately put at ease as the medium takes away the need for rational or intelligent engagement, she said.

“If you are a person living with dementia that can’t articulate your experiences anymore, you see the world in a different lens that might make you feel uncomfortable in the setting. Puppets give you an opportunity to project anything and everything. It’s safe.”

By the end of the financial year, Terrapin hopes to raise $5,000 to support a pilot scheduled for November. Forever Young’s launch is planned for next year and will be delivered in aged care homes around Tasmania.

The program will open with an immersive puppetry performance for all residents. After which, there will be one-on-one bedside sessions for those residents with more progressed dementia.

Families will be strongly encouraged to participate in the program, said Ms Jackson, as it allows them to “reconnect with their loved ones in a new way.”

Following its Tassie run, it’s hoped – funding permitted – that the Forever Young program will eventually move to the mainland.

Forever Young: Exploring Puppetry in Aged Care Settings from Terrapin Puppet Theatre on Vimeo.

If you would like to support the Forever Young program you can donate here.

Main image: Danielle Jackson and Scaredy Cat engage with a resident

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Tags: art therapy, Danielle Jackson, puppets, Terrapin Theatre, University of Tasmania,

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