The Art Gallery of Hamilton is now offering a lower sensory experience for those with dementia and other accessibility needs
The Art Gallery of Hamilton is now hosting Dementia-Friendly Days so that those affected by dementia or other sensory-sensitivity issues can enjoy the exhibits in a quiet, calmer environment during non-public hours.
The AGH is located downtown on King St. West. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month, the gallery reduces sound levels and sensory stimulation for drop-in, free, self-directed exhibition tours.
Laurie Kilgour-Walsh, head of Programs and Learning at AGH, explained this initiative's origin. Specialized programs for people living with dementia have already been implemented at the gallery for over 10 years, so the AGH has experience creating a safe and supportive environment. Due to this success, the gallery has wanted to expand to general access for people living with dementia, for more casual opportunities to explore the exhibitions.
Beyond lowering sensory stimulation, the AGH also offers other supports on their dementia-friendly days, with staff available to help attendees navigate the building or to chat about the exhibits. This gives visitors the freedom to choose their level of interaction with others, for a more controlled experience.
The building will also have extra signage and directions, as well as a security team, to ensure that visitors are as comfortable as possible.
As a dementia-friendly initiative, this program is unique because it is not a choreographed and facilitated experience. Rather, it is experienced however the visitor chooses.
Kilgour-Walsh has explained that reception has been slow to begin, especially with the winter weather that discourages people from coming out. However, she anticipates that once the warmer weather arrives and more people are aware of Dementia-Friendly Days, regular participants will come in more often.
Kilgour-Walsh hopes that people will feel comfortable regularly coming to the gallery after this experience.
"What I hope is that people will feel that the gallery is a place [where] they can come as they are. [Visitors] can function as they need to...we don't expect our participants necessarily to be quiet as an example. However, their experiences are welcome, so hopefully we'll see them come back [often]," said Kilgour-Walsh.
This initiative is great for any students who have sensory sensitivity issues or have loved ones with dementia, explained Kilgour-Walsh.
"By offering a safe space like this, it also allows caregivers and friends and family members a chance to get out and to have those experiences and to really share them with the person that they love as well. So there's a lot of relationship building that goes on in this," said Kilgour-Walsh.
By offering a safe space like this, it also allows caregivers and friends and family members a chance to get out and to have those experiences and to really share them with the person that they love as well. So there's a lot of relationship building that goes on in this.
Laurie Kilgour-Walsh, Head of Programs and Learning, Art Gallery of Hamilton
Kilgour-Walsh also added that the program has been funded by a grant from the province of Ontario and for students to keep an eye out for other opportunities the AGH has to offer, such as other programming or educational initiatives that might be of interest.
For more information on the schedule when Dementia Friendly Days are held, or to optionally pre-register for tours, visit here.
Kacper Niburski
Assistant News Editor
There’s nothing popping about kernels in one’s shoes. It’s uncomfortable. It’s irritating. It’s a simulation of what dementia patients go through daily.
Through a use of taped fingers, weights and glasses festooned with saran wrap, the McMaster’s Alzheimer’s Society, in partnership with the Hamilton-Halton Alzheimer’s Society, challenged students on March 13 to enter the mind of a dementia patient. As the first virtual dementia tour offered at McMaster, the event seeks to raise awareness surrounding the mental illness itself as well as to foster a relationship of empathy between someone afflicted with the disease and their care provider.
Brianna Smrke, Education Committee executive, was one of the co-organizers.
“We were hoping to see how the event could be adapted to engage a group of university students for which it wasn’t originally created. Our other goal was to get people to think more carefully about how they treat elders – whether they are relatives or acquaintances,” she said.
This is only partly true. Besides fostering an environment where people are more conscientious of their actions toward a patient, the tour – which was originally started by P.K Beville – also develops a feeling of empathy. With cotton in one’s ears, weights on one’s appendages and tape wrapped around one’s fingers, a participant gets a brief glimpse into the warped mind of a dementia sufferer.
Karen Robins, Public Education Coordinator for the Halton chapter of the Alzheimer society, expanded on this idea. Drawing on the mission statement of the Alzheimer society, which is to offer either counseling or education regarding Alzheimer’s, she stated that, “Knowledge is power.”
“We can be a voice, a soundboard,” Robins added, “not only for people suffering from the disease, but for their care partners as well. It is such a long journey. It is not all of a sudden. As long as people understand this is an illness that takes time, people will need consistent support.”
In the coming years, such understanding and education is only expected to increase as the disease is getting more and more notoriety. No longer is there a stigma regarding the illness. Instead, with baby boomers entering the age of grey hair and failing memory, people are becoming more aware of the diseases associated with an aging population.
Despite the success of the tour, both Robins and Smrke stressed that there is still more to be done.
“It’s a great start, “ said Smrke. “It went well, but I’m already thinking of how much better it will be the next time we run it – how many more people we’ll be able to encourage to think a little differently about aging and dementia.”
