Project title
Description of initiative
The work is rooted in the arts-based method developed over many years by the Maria Baric Company, using the visual nature of puppetry and the brain-activating properties of music. The purpose of this approach is to improve the well-being of older people who have memory disorders or are otherwise ill or functionally impaired through enhancing their agency, improving their quality of life and contributing to their social well-being. This model has been honed with nursing homes and hospital wards in various cities over a period of ten years, with financial support provided from, for example, the City of Helsinki, Arts Promotion Centre Taike, the Finnish Cultural Foundation and Stea.
Further information on the initiative
Themes: Culture and...
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Target group
Cultural field
Timeframe
Sources of funding
Results, benefits, impact and lessons learnt
Research shows that music appeals powerfully to the emotions of participants and activates the brain in exceptional ways – even if the listener has a memory disorder. Puppetry, on the other hand, fires the imagination. The emotional impact of the music and the symbolic language of the puppets have a physiological and mental effect on participants. Together they can enable older people to recall their childhood, their youth and any happy experiences in their life. Experience has shown that people find it easier to relate to puppets than to other people. Music helps awaken their imagination, thoughts and memories, sensitising them to the narrative and inspiring them to devise their own meanings for what they see and hear. At sites where they visited once or twice a week on a regular basis over an extended period of time, there was a noticeable change
in the demeanour of the older residents.