From dementia-friendly cinemas to podcasting: initiatives popping up over Australia

Key points:

• A new podcast called Hold the Moment featuring Australians with dementia will be launched on August 20, 2024, at the Sydney Opera House
• Podcasters in the seven-part series share their experiences with dementia to help others and their carers navigate challenges associated with the condition
• Other events, such as dementia-friendly movie screenings, can help Australians with dementia engage with others in a positive environment

A new Dementia Australia podcast by people living with dementia will be launched tomorrow, August 20, 2024, at the Sydney Opera House.

The Hold the Moment podcast features people living with dementia who share their experiences in hopes of helping others with dementia feel less alone and is part of an Australian Government initiative.

Panel speakers at the Sydney Opera House launch will include co-hosts of Hold the Moment, Jim Rogers and Hamish Macdonald, along with Heather Cooper, a podcaster living with dementia. 

The event will be held in the Utzon Room at the Sydney Opera House from 10am – 11.30am.

On Tuesday, August 20, 2024, the first two podcast episodes of Hold the Moment will also be available on Apple Podcasts and other podcast platforms. Each week, another episode will be available in the seven-part series, with topics covering the diagnosis and its associated concerns, as well as strategies to manage daily life.

Guests on the podcasts include Australians living with dementia or early onset dementia and former carers of people living with dementia. 

Approximately 411,000 Australians live with dementia, as per recent data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 

However, it’s not only sharing personal experiences of dementia that can help improve the lives of affected Australians. Some organisations hold dementia-friendly events to encourage people with dementia to enjoy a fun day out.

The National Film and Sound Archive at Acton in the ACT is running A Day at the Movies, which is a special film screening for people with dementia. The next session will be held on September 21, 2024, at 9:30am for a screening of Strictly Ballroom in the Arc Cinema. 

This special screening will have reduced sound, low-level lighting, appropriate signage, a designated quiet space, an intermission and complimentary movie snacks.

Purchase your tickets for this dementia-friendly screening on the National Film and Sound Archive website. If you are a carer of a person with dementia, you may be eligible for a complimentary Carer ticket, thanks to Carers ACT.

Other similar screening events have proven to be successful, including a dementia-friendly screening of The Sapphires that included morning tea, a special souvenir program to take home and seeing one of the costumes from the film. 

Attending dementia-friendly events can be a valuable experience, but creating comfortable and engaging spaces at home can also improve one’s quality of life.

The importance of arts engagement can’t be overstated. Researchers highlight the value of group art therapy with older people in aged care homes, as participants in one study were found to have reduced depressive symptoms, a greater sense of purpose as well as improved mental cognition.

Read more about the value of incorporating art therapy into aged care homes in this article: Why should art sessions be included in aged care homes?

However, it’s not only creating the artwork that can benefit older Australians with dementia. 

Hanging artworks in aged care homes can help residents associate certain locations with particular artworks and make it easier for residents to identify their own rooms when they have a personalised door.

Brisbane-based Tailored Artworks Founder Sharron Tancred shared the importance of using art and colour to make people with dementia feel more comfortable in aged care homes.

“The right kind of artwork, that people with dementia can perceive and use as landmarks, [helps them to] reminisce with and have conversations about,” she said.

“[It] creates dopamine, it raises well-being [and] it improves health.” 

Do you know someone with dementia? Which activity do you think they’d prefer?

Let the team at Talking Aged Care know on social media. 

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