REVIVING MEMORIES THROUGH ART By Peter Schworm 05/11/2006 Page: 1 Section: Globe South

Her eyes have failed and her mind is begin- "There's no drug on ning to fade, but in her mind's eye, 88-year-old the market that can Nellie Woolley still sees clear and bright. do what this Visiting the Big Apple Circus in last can do for them," week, Woolley, who lives at an Alzheimer's said Hearthstone's care facility in Brockton, clapped in time to director of commu- the music, laughed with the crowd, and nity relations, Sean beamed as a young woman sitting beside her Caulfield. described the clowns and acrobats and dogs The potential of art jumping over obstacles on their hind legs. therapy for patients Memories come harder for Woolley now, but suffering from the circus drew some deeply held ones to the dementia is receiv- surface. ing more attention, "It brings things back, back to when I was a with the number of girl," she said. "I used to go and just walk Alzheimer's around and see the clowns. I can picture it in patients poised to my mind." surge as the baby Grandma, a Big Apple , helped Nellie Wooley of Brockton to her seat. Mallory Jenkins Grant (standing), program director at Hearthstone Alzheimer's Care, was looking on. The circus visit was part of an innovative form boom generation ages. of treatment for Alzheimer's patients that uses An estimated 4.5 million Americans now have ly patients, who are in the early or middle music and art and, in this case, a common Alzheimer's; by 2050, the number is expected stages of the progressive disease, may have childhood experi ence to stir memories and to rise as high as 16 million. The US popula- forgotten what day it is or what they had for enliven their minds. Organizers of the initia- tion age 65 and older is projected to double breakfast, but can still recall childhood events tive called "Artists for Alzheimer's" and within the next 25 years, according to the or the tune of old songs. launched by Hearthstone Alzheimer Care, National Institute on Aging. By awakening their minds, the circus and which runs the Brockton residence and seven "It's an issue whose time has come," said other engaging activities "act as a type of others in Massachusetts, New York, and Lesley University professor Shaun McNiff, a medicine," she said. believe that art and other multi- past president of the American Art Therapy "Their memories are in there," she said. sensory experiences can help patients tap into Association and the author of several books "Sometimes they just need to be teased out." memories that the disease has shrouded but about art therapy. "Art is not limited to one Paul Raia, director of patient care for the not stolen. cognitive, cerebral channel. It's an interplay Alzheimer's Association of Massachusetts, John Zeisel, Hearthstone's president, said that between all the senses, and so it can engage said that while there is no research showing Alzheimer's "hides" people's memories, but people wherever they happen to be." that art therapy helps Alzheimer's patients, that an intense, immediate experience like the At the circus, a one-tent production held at there is anecdotal evidence that it can reduce circus helps find them. "You can't hide from Boston's City Hall Plaza, Anna Imbergamo, the agitation and aggressiveness the disease this," he said. "That helps get them back to 77, who also lives in the Hearthstone facility can cause. who they are." in Brockton, recalled going to the circus at "Art can change emotions positively very Hearthstone officials bring artists to their res- Boston Garden as a child. She and her family quickly," he said. idences to perform and help patients create would walk from their home in the North End, Woolley said she is becoming increasingly their own art. They are working with the she said. forgetful, and that worries her. But hearing the Museum of Modern Art in to Betty Madsen, 76, a resident at Springhouse, a songs reminds her of happier times, like going offer specialized tours for people with Jamaica Plain retirement community invited to the movies with her teenage friends, some- Alzheimer's. to participate in the initiative, also fondly times even sneaking in, she said with a smile. Art therapy cannot halt or reverse the progres- recalled childhood visits to the big top. She Caulfield, carefully observing the patients' sion of the degenerative brain disease, which chuckled as a grandmotherly clown welcomed reactions, called the circus and other forms of gradually impairs the ability to think, remem- her to the show last Thursday. art therapy "a conduit for patients to come to ber, and communicate. But proponents believe "Of course they make you laugh," she themselves." the therapy can engage the mind's expressive exclaimed. "That's what they're here for." "We're grounded in our own memories. It's and emotive powers that remain intact, As the show went on, Madsen swayed and who we are," he said, recalling a passage from sharply improving patients' quality of life. tapped her feet in time to classics like Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov." The fundamental theory behind the therapy is "Singing in the Rain." She clapped her hands "If one has only one good memory left in one's that Alzheimer's patients are "still with us," excitedly at the trapeze artists and chuckled as heart, even that may sometime be the means Zeisel said, and can appreciate and be soothed the grandmother clown outdueled two pirates. of saving us," he said, quoting the author. by art and music. Seeing art and listening to "You're never too old for the circus," she said. music can help reduce the disease's symp- Karen Pollack, outreach coordinator for For more information visit toms, including feelings of confusion, anxiety, Springhouse, said Madsen was far more ani- www.thehearth.org and depression, he said. mated than usual. Madsen and the other elder- or call 888-422-CARE