Puppetry in Dementia Care ─ Connecting Through Creativity and Joy

Marshall, who has a background in nursing and person-centered counseling, works with people with dementia, managed a care home for people with profound and complex needs, and lectured in health and social care in the UK, explains the use of puppetry, along with other therapies like singing and storytelling, to enhance the quality of life of people with dementia. She discusses why people with dementia respond to puppetry, different forms used with them, and how to make puppets; how to discover individual preferences and use creativity and person-centered principles to connect with people; and how to use puppetry to respond to changes in relationships, communicate, connect in times of conflict or confusion, create a meaningful life, work with bed-bound people, and highlight feelings of self. They also address uses with narrative or life story work, memory stimulation, animal puppets, small and simple acts for daily practice, and puppetry as entertainment for and performance art by people with dementia. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Karrie Marshall has a background in nursing and person-centred counselling. She managed a care home for people with profound and complex needs, and worked for ten years as a lecturer in health and social care at Inverness College. In 2011 she founded the social enterprise Creativity in Care (www.creativityincare.org), which promotes inclusive and joyful work in care settings and in the community for people living with dementia and people who use mental health and learning disability services. Karrie lives in Inverness, Scotland.