Poetry speaks to more than just the soul, but can bring forth the memories of our residents’ life stories. This past month members of the Azura Memory Care Quality of Life Team had the opportunity to work with Gary Glazner, Founder of the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project, to engage our residents in creative expression through the use of poetry.
The mission of the Alzheimers Poetry Project is to facilitate the creativity of people living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias with a goal to bond a community by building on shared words, passions, and discoveries through the performance and creation of poetry. The National Endowment for the Arts listed the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project as a best practice for the NEA Arts and Aging initiative and it was awarded the 2012 MetLife Foundation Creativity and Aging in Leadership Award .
Gary provided each location’s Quality of Life Team with tools to inspire, approach, communicate and better engage with those living within our family of care. He showed us ways to tap into their memories, allow them to be creative and supported to find their voice. This was accomplished as residents and team members engaged in a call-and-response poetry reading, sang songs, shared laughs and created the poem Trees. Pictured is one of the creations from Azura Memory Care of Sheboygan.
“Our goal at Azura Memory Care is to transform the culture of care,” said Paula Gibson, Director of Communications and Engagement. “The Alzheimer’s Poetry Project showcases how poetry doesn’t just speak to our residents, but engages them to express their own creativity and find their voice.”
Learn more about the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project at www.alzpoetry.com.
Check out one of Azura Memory Care’s favorite Alzheimer’s Poems.
"We want to thank you for the loving special care you took of our mother, Diane. It was truly mom's home and you all became part of our family. Everything was home for her....from the beautiful rooms, large sunny windows all around, good food made with love, fun and personal activities from people who really loved our mom. We would highly recommend your facility to anyone. The staff from the director, to the doctor, to the nurse, to the caregivers and the maintenance man were all extremely helpful, caring, loving and professional. There are not enough words to say how much we appreciate all of you. Your exceptional care, kindness, and love were beyond anything we could have imagined. You were part of our family, and we will miss you." - Gail Sommers and Deborah Guse
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