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National Center for Creative Aging Features Timeslips in 'Creativity Matters' Symposium on Health, Wellness, and the Arts

Posted on: Thursday, 12 March 2009, 11:37 CDT

WASHINGTON, March 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA) will feature certification on the "The TimeSlips Creative Storytelling Project" as part of the "NCCA-MetLife Foundation Creativity Matters: Health, Wellness, and the Arts Symposium," being held in Washington, D.C. on March 30, 31, April 1.

Anne Basting, Director of the Center on Age and Community at the University of Wisconsin and Founder and Director of TimeSlips said, "Storytelling is memory - just imagine the power of bringing storytelling into the hands of someone who thinks they've lost it. It brings real engagement back to people and places that assumed it was lost."

The Monday, March 30 workshop will be led by Basting at IONA Senior Services. She will focus on how to use images to inspire people with dementia to tell creative stories. Participants will learn and practice key TimeSlips storytelling methods including echoing responses, selecting images, asking open-ended questions, engagingly retelling the story, and handling common communication challenges. Basting will also discuss how to share stories within one's own community.

TimeSlips Creative Storytelling Project was founded by Basting in 1998. It is a one-of-a-kind program that encourages people with dementia to tell their stories by using images to trigger their imaginations. Participants will learn how to conduct a session which typically begins with a leader who asks a question about an image. The facilitator then puts all the responses together and weaves it into a story. Research shows that the TimeSlips program improves communication skills among people with dementia, builds teamwork between caregivers of people with dementia, and improves interactions between staff and residents with dementia.

For more information on registration, programming or membership, please contact the NCCA office at info@creativeaging.org or (202) 895-9456.

The National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA) was founded in 2001 and is dedicated to fostering an understanding of the vital relationship between creative expression and healthy aging and to developing programs that build on this understanding. Based in Washington, DC, NCCA is a nonprofit with 2,500 members and is affiliated with The George Washington University. www.creativeaging.org

SOURCE National Center for Creative Aging

Source: PR Newswire

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