A SOCIAL EXPERIMENT TO OVERTURN PREJUDICES ON ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE IN NURSING HOMES USING ARTISTIC PHOTOGRAPHY

Abstract

It is widely known that Alzheimer’s disease is burdened with strong prejudices with negative connotations. This may contribute to increase patient’s isolation and marginalization, and to render Nursing Homes places of confinement and seclusion. Residents with dementia have trouble in relating with the outside world and in expressing themselves about their own disease, due to their cognitive decline, but also because of marginalization. We used artistic photography as an accessible and effective tool to bring down barriers and encourage residents’ communication. Artistic photography is the most immediate and accessible form of art for all people. The aim of our social experiment was to help demented residents to become protagonists making their disease known, with the support of health operators, psychologists, and family members by means of a photographic project with the direct participation of residents. The theme we chose for our photographic exhibition and contest concerned jobs and crafts, which the residents once practiced. It is well known, indeed, that persons with Alzheimer’s disease may maintain long-term memory intact – especially procedural memory – for a long time. We attempted to recreate a fragment of patients’ experience in the past and share it with their relatives and with the community surrounding the Nursing Home. Our purpose was to provide a different view of Alzheimer’s disease, without the prejudices usually linked to this condition. Photographers were selected among young talented local amateurs.