OMA inspires confidence, provides autonomy to individuals with dementia

Opening Minds through Art does more than provide individuals with dementia a creative outlet for expression. It enables them to build confidence by recognizing their abilities, while also building relationships and engaging with volunteers. 

OMA, which is a therapy-based program developed by the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University, aims to build “bridges across age and cognitive barriers through art” by pairing students with elderly individuals. 

Twice a week, students facilitate work on art projects with about 35 residents of Cedar Village Retirement Community—all of whom are either dealing with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. 

“It’s been so amazing to see how stark of a contrast it is when they’re doing creative versus noncreative activity,” says Julia Fallon, University of Cincinnati senior and OMA volunteer.

Fallon, who also conducts research with OMA founder Elizabeth Lokon, says enabling individuals to tap into their creative sides prompts responses that might not otherwise come about. “Especially with art and music, there might be memories associated with those things or emotions that might not be elicited by anything else,” she says.

For Miami University senior Josie Rader, who is an OMA student leader and facilitator, autonomy is one of the biggest takeaways of the program. 

“Personal choice is just so big—even choosing the paint they want to use—it’s all chosen by them, so just having that freedom and creating something that they don’t believe they can create is amazing,” Rader says. “Sometimes they get a little concerned and say things like, ‘Oh I’m not an artist,’ or ‘I can’t do this,’ but at the end, they see a masterpiece that they never imagined they could do.” 

Do Good:

• Support OMA by donating.

• View residents' artwork, which is on display at Cedar Village in the hallway behind the activity center. The latest project involved the creation of tiles as part of a collaborative effort with Rookwood Pottery.

• Like OMA's Facebook page.

By Brittany York
Brittany York is a professor of English composition at both the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.