Sharing an activity together, such as watching cricket, could have a positive impact on dementia patients and their loved ones, according to one expert.
Writing in Pavilion Health Today, Dr Raja Badrakalimuthu, a consultant and Old Age Psychiatrist, at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford highlights how sports and arts can ‘bring together people’ with benefits for those with dementia and their family carers.
As part of a pilot project, Middlesex County Cricket Club (MCCC) and Dementia Carers Count (DCC) organised a family day for people with the early stages of dementia, to allow them and their carers to watch their favourite sporting activity and reminisce on fond cricketing moments.
MCCC provided 30 pairs of free tickets to people with dementia and their carers to two county test matches. Staff from DCC, along with stewards from Lords cricket ground, were offered free dementia awareness training, and operated a stand for the guests in close proximity to amenities such as food stalls and restrooms, and accessible to the entrance and car park.
After the event, 20 family carers were contacted for feedback on their experience as well as their suggestions for making cricket in particular accessible to people with dementia and their carers.
They reported ‘a very positive experience ‘and provided ‘useful suggestions towards improving procedures and logistics for future events;.
According to Dr Badrakalimuthu, the project provides ‘strong evidence’ from feedback of carers of people with dementia that a day out with their loved one to watch cricket ‘enriches conversation’ and ‘positive expressed emotion between the person with dementia and their carer’.
“This project provided opportunities for the carer and the person with dementia to enjoy a day out, engage in conversations on cricket as recalled by the person with dementia and break the cycle of conversations focused on behaviour and needs, which can cause frustration on both parties,” he writes.
“Engagement of carers in activities such as vacations, sport, hobbies and going out to work are considered important. Yet, respite for carers is often fraught with challenges and the actual usage of formal respite services by carers of persons with dementia has been repeatedly shown to be relatively low. This leads to the hypothesis that such respite services may not be satisfying carer needs or there are negative connotations associated with its use, such as the person with dementia is a burden, that the carer is not able to cope and respite is primarily for the carer’s benefit.
“The advantage of having a joint day out is that person with dementia is with the family carer and the carer will not have to be anxious or worried about the family member with dementia being at home or in care with unfamiliar care settings.”
He concludes: “Sports and arts can bring together people with dementia and their family carers helping to enrich conversations. They also build on the strength of the long-term memory of a person with dementia. Sports and art venues do have a duty towards making their venues accessible for people with dementia by providing appropriate training for their staff and ensuring the environment is tailored for people with dementia. Carers of people with dementia will benefit from respite events that involve sharing positive experiences and creating new memories.”
