New Dementia Arts Therapy Program Aims to Make Widespread Impact

David and Nancy Wolf

Cedar Village Retirement Community is creating a pioneering creative arts therapy program to improve the lives of people with dementia, greatly expanding and enhancing Cedar Village’s already innovative dementia care.

A major donation from philanthropists David and Nancy Wolf will fund the program. The donation will help Cedar Village become a national center for innovation and research in dementia care. The Wolfs hope the program becomes so successful it’s replicated across the United States.
 
“We’re not going to cure dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, but we hope to improve the quality of life for people with those conditions,” David Wolf said. “That’s why we’re thrilled to be able to support this great program.”

Cedar Village is a national leader in using the arts to stimulate the minds of people with dementia. And the new program will take Cedar Village to a much higher level, said Carol Silver Elliott, Cedar Village’s CEO and President.

“More must be done to help unlock the doors to reach those with dementia and allow them to live as fully as possible despite the disease process,” Elliott said. “With this program, the potential for a positive impact is almost unlimited.”

The Wolfs know the importance of quality care for people with dementia because Nancy Wolf’s mother, Frances Fishel, had dementia. Nancy Wolf was disappointed in the care her mother received at a Tennessee nursing home before her mother died 17 years ago at age 82.

Nancy Wolf hopes the donation will help other people get better care. “We have great expectations and hopes that this program will fill a need by enriching the lives of people with dementia,” she said.

Many people with dementia cannot express themselves in conventional ways, especially those in the mid to advanced stages of the disease. But research has shown that using creative arts is an effective way for them to become engaged.

Experts know such therapies work when they see a person with dementia tapping his foot while listening to music that’s meaningful to him or painting for an hour when she would otherwise become distracted. Even more stunning is when a person with advanced dementia sings, even though that person no long speaks.

The three-year program is starting this month. It will be called the David and Nancy Wolf Creative Arts in Aging Program at Cedar Village.

The program will use various art forms such as music therapy, the visual and performing arts and creative writing. It will include an artist-in-residence program as well as public art shows and performances. 

And it will use measurement tools, developed by the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University, to gauge its effectiveness. The measurements could be used to help decide whether to continue the program and replicate it elsewhere.

Unlike other communities for the elderly, Cedar Village will offer the programming for most of its 300 residents, not just those living in specialized dementia units. And unlike other communities, it will provide the therapy almost every day throughout the year, instead of sporadically.

The Wolfs are making the donation now so they can have the satisfaction of seeing the program’s success while they’re alive. The measurement system will help them know the impact of their donation.

David Wolf is a real estate developer. Nancy Wolf is a retired occupational therapist and former member of the Cedar Village Board of Trustees. The couple lives in Newport, KY, and Jupiter, FL.

Clarissa Rentz, retired executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association, Greater Cincinnati Chapter, and a clinical nurse specialist in gerontology, praised the Wolfs for supporting arts programming aimed at improving the quality of life for people with Alzheimer’s disease because historically this area of research has not been well funded. “Cedar Village residents are fortunate to be the beneficiaries of this most generous gift,” said Rentz, who is a consultant to the Wolfs.

Cedar Village, located in Mason, Ohio, is a nonprofit continuing care retirement community whose goal is to make aging an enriching experience. It offers independent and assisted living apartments as well as short-term rehabilitation and long-term care. Specialties include inpatient and outpatient therapy, specialized dementia care, home care services and hospice care. More information is available at www.cedarvillage.org or 513-754-3100.

 

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