First shown at The Dome Brighton, Founders room as part of the Older Peoples Festival Commissioned by Impact Initiatives in Partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council as part of celebrating The United Nations Older People's Day September 2016 and as part of the Brighton Fringe 2017 What do you talk about with someone who is losing his or her memory? How can we include people with dementia in conversations when they have communication difficulties? Rachel Mortimer, founder of Sussex-based social enterprise Engage & Create, developed Ignite to help answer these questions. This work was based on an observed Ignite session. Sessions use famous paintings shown on an iPad to spark conversations. The versatility of the sessions means that they can be enjoyable for those with early cognitive problems right through the dementia journey to those with more advanced dementia and few words.
One of the things I observed in the sessions was that when people came in at the beginning, they were often disconnected, like they weren’t quite themselves. Their personality was in there but it was not always evident. It was as if the person was behind a haze, and trying to connect. As the process went on, I could see their personality becoming clearer, they were able to be more fully present. One man was starting to open up as his confidence grew, and he mentioned his wife. I thought it would make a great shot to have him say his wife’s name, but when I asked him her name, he couldn’t remember and clammed up. That’s when I understood the power of choosing a neutral subject, without right or wrong answers. When this same gentleman came back to the second session, he was already more confident, as he’d remembered the positive feeling of being there before.
I’ve portrayed this transformation from confusion to connectedness, using two images of the same person. The first image was taken at the beginning of the session. It was then laser etched onto glass to represent the hazy sense of isolation and disconnectedness. For the second image, which you can see though the laser-etched picture on the glass, it is a clear and in focus photograph. This is to portray the person once they have connected with the conversation, showing them more solid and present. The large image shows a selection of people engaged in the session. You can see from their expressions that they were actively taking part as well as interacting with one another, amazing.
My own mother, who is only 70, has Alzheimer’s. She has moments of lucidity, but she is very uncertain and gets shaky if asked a question that requires memory. But I’ve learnt from this project, that if you sit with her, and talk about the lovely colours in the garden, she becomes more confident because she can answer. That’s when I get glimpses of my real mum.
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