'An ABC of Creative Dementia Interventions: Agency, Best Practice & Co-creation (part 1)' Resources

Delivered in partnership with Seiwa Cunningham, the session explored the theme of agency and co-creation when working with People Living with Dementia, and discussed the ‘Key Ingredients’ of developing Best Practice in Creative Dementia Interventions.

Here are the resources that were shared during the session, with kind permission from Seiwa Cunningham:

• An ABC of Creative Dementia Interventions: Agency, Best Practice and Co-creation (Part 1) – full session notes.
• ‘Creative Health – Useful Links‘ document.
• ‘Unmapped’ animation video (created by Unmapped with Arc Studio, with many thanks to Julian West and Dr. Hannah Zeilig for kindly sharing)
  

Many thanks again to Seiwa Cunningham for sharing her knowledge and expertise, for all of her help in devising and delivering the session, and for creating and generously sharing these invaluable resources.

About Seiwa Cunningham:
Seiwa Cunningham | LinkedIn
Seiwa Cunningham (@redalloverart) Instagram photos and videos

Artist
Carer & Dementia Advocate
Creative Health Workshop Facilitator
Expert by Experience
Reminiscence and Cognitive Stimulation Therapy Practitioner

I am a textile artist and have been facilitating creative workshops since 1985. My audiences have included children, families, adults and those with both physical and learning disabilities, and I have many years of experience working in museums, galleries, hospitals and schools. Since 2004 I have taken training and continually developed my practice to concentrate on engagement with People Living with Dementia (PLWD) and their carers. Following my mother’s diagnosis of Lewy Body Dementia, I became her carer, giving me eight years of lived experience. For three years during that period, I also worked as a social carer in Camden.

In 2024 I was Programme Director for Arts in Care Homes, a National Day established by NAPA, the National Activity Providers Association.

Between 2022 and 2023, I was Programme Manager for Memories of London, the London Museum’s engagement programme for PLWD and also managed the Dementia-Friendly Venues Network on behalf of the GLA. The GLA later commissioned me to create a pilot Assessment Framework for the Mayor of London’s Dementia-Friendly Venues Charter and I have submitted a report commissioned by the London Museum as part of their Flourishing Neighbourhoods Programme.

I continue to run creative workshops for PLWD in care homes and for museums and other cultural organisations and also focus on advocacy for PLWD and their family carers, curating discussions and provocations around health inequalities and creative health; using the arts as a vehicle for well-being.