IPA - 12th International Congress, Stockholm, Sweden, 20-24 September
2005
International Psychogeriatric Association
12th
Congress
Stockholm, Sweden
20-24 September 2005
Aging with Dignity
-new
challenges
-new
possibilities
-new
solutions
Rx for Dementia: Touch, music, dignity
Photographs by Cathy Stein Greenblat, PhD
While attending IPA’s 12th Congress in Stockholm, please take time and visit the photography display by Cathy Greenblat, Professor Emerita of Sociology, Rutgers University, United States. For more information about Cathy and her work, please visit
www.alivewithalzheimers.com.
Description: Photographs from a California residential facility for people with dementia are coupled in this exhibit with photographs from several “group homes” for the dependent elderly in Japan. The California residence is private and costs are borne by families. The costs of living in the Japanese group homes are almost completely covered by national health insurance. Both follow a “social” rather than medical model, though nursing care and physician visits are provided. The photographs give visual evidence that regardless of the cultural differences, there is great power in touch, music, and the maintenance of dignity, and that the hearts and minds of people suffering from dementia are still alive.