Skip to content
1981
Volume 14, Issue 1-2
  • ISSN: 2042-8022
  • E-ISSN: 2042-8030

Abstract

This article describes ongoing research that is investigating ways in which poetic writing can be developed into a resource to support the well-being of people living with dementia and their carers. The Companion Poems audiobook project involves the co-creation of sensory poetry books for people living with dementia. The project brings together the team’s expertise in poetic writing, design for dementia and interactive digital technology to create tactile audio poetry books. The rationale for the work, the research methodology and the creative methods used are described through an account of one Companion Poem: ‘How the Garden Grows’ and its development into a bespoke sensory audiobook.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/btwo_00107_1
2025-02-27
2026-04-14

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Alzheimer’s Society (2022), ‘Dementia co-creation guide’, 5 August, https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/blog/practical-guide-designing-products-services-people-affected-dementia. Accessed 9 February 2024.
  2. Bender, Michael, Bauckham, Paulette and Norris, Andrew (1998), The Therapeutic Purposes of Reminiscence, London: SAGE.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Dewing, Jan (2007), ‘Personhood and dementia: Revisiting Tom Kitwood’s ideas’, International Journal of Older People Nursing, 3:1, pp. 313, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20925884/. Accessed 23 January 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Fels, Deborah I. and Astell, Arlene J. (2011), ‘Storytelling as a model of conversation for people with dementia and caregivers’, American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias, 26:7, pp. 53541, https://doi.org/10.1177/1533317511429324.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Gregory, Helen (2011), ‘I will tell you something of my own: Promoting personhood in dementia through performative social science’, Qualitative Social Research Forum, 15:3, https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-15.3.2145.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Grigoriou, Stavroula, Pampoulou, Eliada and Kambanaros, Maria (2022), ‘The impact of dementia on family carers using the ICF framework’, International Journal of Caring Sciences, 15:3, pp. 196068.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Hendriks, Niels, Huybrechts, Liesbeth, Wilkinson, Andrea and Legers, Karin (2014), ‘Challenges in doing participatory design with people with dementia’, in O. Iversen, H. Winschiers-Theophilus, V. D’Andrea, C. Bossen, M. Teli and K. Bødker (eds), Proceedings of the 13th Participatory Design Conference: Short Papers, Industry Cases, Workshop Descriptions, Doctoral Consortium Papers, and Keynote Abstracts: Volume 2 (PDC '14), New York: Association for Computing Machinery, pp. 3336.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Hill, Michael R. (2006), ‘Sociology and poetry: An introduction’, Sociological Origins, 4:2, Spring, pp. 6668, http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/sociologyfacpub/356.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Killick, John (2018), Poetry and Dementia: A Practical Guide, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Kitwood, Tom (1988), ‘The technical, the personal, and the framing of dementia’, Social Behaviour, 3:2, pp. 16179.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. MacKinlay, Elizabeth and Baker, Felicity (2005), ‘Nurturing herself, nurturing her baby: Creating positive experiences for first-time mothers through lullaby singing’, Women and Music: A Journal of Gender and Culture, 9:1, pp. 6989, https://doi.org/10.1353/wam.2005.0010.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Menegardo, Cristiani S., Friggi, Fernanda A., Scardini, Julia B., Rossi, Tais S., Vieira, Thais D. S., Tieppo, Alessandra and Morelato, Renato L. (2019), ‘Sundown syndrome in patients with Alzheimer’s disease dementia’, Dementia & Neuropsychologia, 13:4, pp. 46974, https://doi.org/10.1590/1980-57642018dn13-040015.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Morgan, Jennifer, Kemp, Candace, Hill, Andrea and Bender, Alexis (2023), ‘Fostering consistent and engaging care for people with dementia in long-term care’, Innovation in Aging, 7:1, pp. 32121, https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igad104.1068.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. NHS Website (2024), ‘What is dementia’, 20 July 2023, https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/dementia/about-dementia/what-is-dementia/. Accessed 23 January 2024.
  15. Pool, Jackie (2012), The Pool Activity Level (PAL) Instrument for Occupational Profiling: A Practical Resource for Carers of People with Cognitive Impairment, 4th ed., London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Porch, Lisa, Canavan, Keireine, Treadaway, Cathy and Cazeaux, Clive (2022a), ‘Caring through cloth: Textiles and the trauma of stillbirth’, Textile, 21:2, pp. 491508, https://doi.org/10.1080/14759756.2021.2021727.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Schaefer, Jeanne A. and Moos, Rudolf H. (1996), ‘A systematic review of stress in staff caring for people with dementia living in 24-hour care settings’, Research in Nursing and Health, 19:1, pp. 6373.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Schweitzer, Pam and Bruce, Errollyn (2008), Remembering Yesterday, Caring Today Reminiscence in Dementia Care: A Guide to Good Practice, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Swinnen, Aagje M. C. (2016), ‘Healing words: A study of poetry interventions in dementia care’, Dementia, 15:6, pp. 1377404, https://doi.org/10.1177/1471301214560378.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Treadaway, Cathy (2022), ‘Designing nurturing experiences for people living with advanced dementia’, in P. Rodgers (ed.), Design for People Living with Dementia, Design Research for Change, Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 6576.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Treadaway, Cathy, Fennell, Jac, Prytherch, David, Kenning, Gail, Prior, Amie and Walters, Andy (2018a), Compassionate Design: How to Design for Advanced Dementia: A Toolkit for Designers, Cardiff: Cardiff Met Press, https://www.laughproject.info/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Compassionate-Design_toolkit.pdf. Accessed 1 February 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Treadaway, Cathy and Kenning, Gail (2016), ‘Sensor e-textiles: Person-centered co-design for people with late stage dementia’, Working with Older People Journal, 20:3, June, pp. 7685, https://doi.org/10.1108/WWOP-09-2015-0022.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Treadaway, Cathy, Fennell, Jac, Prytherch, David, Kenning, Gail and Walters, Andy (2016), ‘Designing for wellbeing in late stage dementiaProceedings of Well-Being 2016: The Third International Conference Exploring the Multi-Dimensions of Well-Being, Birmingham City University, UK, 5–6 September.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Treadaway, Cathy, Fennell, Jac, Prytherch, David, Kenning, Gail, Walters, Andrew, Prior, A. and Taylor, Aidan (2018a), Compassionate Design: How to Design for Advanced Dementia: A Toolkit for Designers, Cardiff: Cardiff Met Press, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343231516_Compassionate_Design_How_to_Design_for_Advanced_Dementia_-_a_toolkit_for_designers. Accessed 1 February 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Treadaway, Cathy, Taylor, Aidan and Fennell, Jac J. (2018b), ‘Compassionate design for dementia care’, International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation, 7:3, pp. 14457, https://doi.org/10.1080/21650349.2018.1501280.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. World Health Organisation (WHO) (2017), Global Action Plan on the Public Health Response to Dementia 2017, Geneva: World Health Organisation, https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/global-action-plan-on-the-public-health-response-to-dementia-2017---2025. Accessed 23 January 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. World Health Organization Official Website (2024), ‘Dementia key facts page’, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia. Accessed 1 February 2024.
  28. Yin, Robert K. (2018), Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods, 6th ed., Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Zeilig, Hannah, Killick, John and Fox, Chris (2014), ‘The participative arts for people living with dementia: A critical review’, International Journal of Ageing and Later Life, 9:1, pp. 734, https://doi.org/10.3384/ijal.1652-8670.14238.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Astell, Arlene J., Ellis, Maggie P., Alm, Norman, Dye, Richard, Gowans, Gary and Campbell, Jim (2010), ‘Stimulating people with dementia to reminisce using personal and generic photographs’, International Journal of Computers in Health, 1:2, pp. 17798.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Bellass, Sue, Balmer, Andrew, May, Vanessa, Keady, John, Buse, Christina, Capstick, Andrea, Burke, Lucy, Bartlett, Ruth and Hodgson, James (2019), ‘Broadening the debate on creativity and dementia: A critical approach’, Dementia, 18:7–8, pp. 2799820, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1471301218760906.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Gregory, Helen (2010), ‘Using poetry to improve the quality of life and care for people with dementia: A qualitative analysis of the Try to Remember programme’, Arts & Health, 3:2, pp. 16072, https://doi.org/10.1080/17533015.2011.584885.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Kitwood, Tom and Bredin, Kathleen (1992), ‘Towards a theory of dementia care: Personhood and well-being’, Ageing and Society, 12:30, pp. 26987, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X0000502X.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Porch, Lisa, Canavan, Kiereine, Treadaway, Cathy and Cazeaux, Clive (2022b), ‘Caring through cloth: Textiles and the trauma of stillbirth’, Textile, 21:2, pp. 491508, https://doi.org/10.1080/14759756.2021.2021727.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Sabat, Steven R. (2001), The Experience of Alzheimer’s Disease: Life through a Tangled Veil, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.702.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Treadaway, Cathy, Fennell, Jac, Taylor, Aidan and Kenning, Gail (2019), ‘Designing for playfulness through compassion: Design for advanced dementia’, Design for Health, 3:1, pp. 2747, https://doi.org/10.1080/24735132.2019.1593295.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Treadaway, Cathy, Pool, Jackie and Johnson, Asa (2020), ‘Sometimes a HUG is all you need’, The Journal of Dementia Care, 28:6, pp. 3234.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Treadaway, Cathy, Kenning, Gail, Fennell, Jac, Lloyd, Peter and Bohemia, Erik (2016), ‘In the moment: Designing for late stage dementia’, in P. Lloyd and E. Bohemia (eds.), Proceedings of DRS2016: Design + Research + Society – Future-Focused Thinking, Brighton, 27–30 June, Brighton: Design Research Society, pp. 144257, https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2016.107, https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1284&context=drs-conference-papers. Accessed 23 January 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. World Health Organization (WHO) (2023), Dementia Fact Sheet, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia. Accessed 23 January 2024.
/content/journals/10.1386/btwo_00107_1
Loading
/content/journals/10.1386/btwo_00107_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test