John Killick

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As previously reported in Australasian Moves (Moving On, Vol 13, no’s, 3 and 4), we are pleased to have permission from Hawker Press to reprint this article written about the work of Dr. Heather Hill. It is part of a series of articles on the arts in dementia by John Killick (U.K. poet/writer who works in dementia care) for the Australian Journal of Dementia Care (AJDC). Based on email exchanges between Heather and John, and information drawn from Heather’s writings on dementia, the article represents dance really well. We are also pleased to have permission to reprint Cathy Greenblat’s beautiful and sensitive photos taken at one of Heather’s dance sessions.

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Keywords
Nursing home residents, quality of life, dementia, art appreciation

Despite much investigation into the quality of nursing homes, the needs of residents from their own perspective seems poorly understood. In this article, interview data collected from Westminster Health Care Centre explored the principles of quality of life for residents in nursing homes with dementia. The discussion substantiated the hypothesis that the positive effects of art-making result in improvements to care-giving outcomes. Concepts raised were aesthetic sensibility, appreciation and taste in accordance with the genuine desire for artistic pursuits. This article conclusively illustrates the intention from this sample of nursing home residents, to live more creatively. (pp 19-20)

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