OMA at Scripps Gerontology Center, Miami University

I seek funding and mentorship to scale the evidence-based program I developed. 

The funding will be used to:

1. Hire a staff member with social entrepreneurship experience to grow the program;

2. Build ScrippsAVID (Arts-based, Virtual, Intergenerational, Dementia-friendly), a free, web-based application that connects younger people with older people living with dementia to co-create and share art, music, poetry, recipes, and stories.

3. Build capacity to provide creative engagement opportunities to people aging with Down Syndrome. This is a population with increasing longevity that is significantly more at risk of developing dementia (>60% at aged 60) than the general population (<6% at age 60).

Mentorship from The Elevate Prize team will help OMA develop a sound business model, scaling strategies, and long-term plans for financial sustainability. Elevate mentors could also assist OMA staff in learning to shape public opinion regarding the value of intergenerational relationships and the ability of people living with dementia to contribute to the education of high school and college students.

I met Cora in 2008 while I was a gerontology graduate student. She had dementia and no longer spoke, but she could hold a paint brush.

 My conversations with Cora were one-sided, and I’ll never forget the day she raised her hand and touched my head, whispering, “Sweetie.” It was the first time she had spoken in years. Cora had given me a gift, breaking her silence to declare her friendship. I wanted to share Cora’s gift with other students by founding Opening Minds through Art (OMA).

OMA is an intergenerational art program, pairing students with people living with dementia. OMA’s innovation lies in recasting people with dementia from dependent care-recipients to artists capable of creating beautiful artwork and co-educators inspiring students.

OMA is established in 200+ communities throughout North America, connecting schools and nursing homes so students can learn about kindness and the dignity of all people. Having taught 600+ nursing home staff members and thousands of students over 13 years, I have developed the training and evaluation tools to share OMA across the U.S. and beyond. In spring 2022, through the Fulbright Scholars Program, I will be bringing OMA to a partner university in Indonesia, my native country.

Age segregation fosters ageism, depriving young and old alike of opportunities to engage across generations outside the family. This becomes more acute when one develops dementia and lives in institutional settings.

In the U.S. alone, more than 6 million people live with dementia. Worldwide, there are around 50 million people living with dementia, and, by 2050, this will triple to 152 million. People think of those living with dementia as a burden. People with dementia who internalize this ageist view perceive a dementia diagnosis as a death sentence.

OMA connects people living with dementia with students to create abstract art. Multiple published studies show such first-hand experiences across generations combat ageist views in both generations. Art is the perfect medium for building connections because it is accessible to all, regardless of cognitive status.

As the pairs spend more time together, students see the creative capacity and humanity of their elder partners. They learn kindness, to listen and pay attention, and more importantly to enlarge their circle of friendship beyond those like themselves. The elders see themselves as artists and as friends and teachers. Both sides benefit from bridging the age divide.

OMA’s innovative aspects include:

1. RECASTING ROLES: OMA recasts older adults’ roles from recipients of care to artists and contributors to students’ learning. Students participating in OMA show more positive attitudes toward “the other” than comparison students.

2. FORMAT: OMA’s mission is using art-making to build intergenerational connections, pairing students and elders living with dementia in a 1:1 ratio. There are no other known art-making programs for people living with dementia that are intentionally intergenerational.  

3. REPLICABILITY AND RESEARCH: OMA has developed a systematic approach to ensure replicability not typically found in arts programming. It features standardized experiential training, enabling replication and research studies.

4. STAFFING: OMA’s implementation requires only an OMA-trained facilitator. OMA does not require a certified art therapist or an artist to conduct the program, simplifying adoption and replication.

5. ART PRODUCT: OMA enables people with moderate, even severe dementia, with no art background to create beautiful artwork. Students, relatives, staff members, and even the elders themselves are often surprised by the quality of the artwork created.

6. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT: Future physicians and other healthcare practitioners who experienced OMA became more positive in their attitudes toward older adults, which potentially translates to better healthcare experiences for older adults.

OMA’s impact on students and people living with dementia is captured across nine published studies. Three studies indicate enhanced well-being scores among elders (i.e. more interest, pleasure; less distress, anxiety) during OMA compared to other activities. OMA also reduces caregiver stress. Six other studies reveal students participating in OMA become more positive in their attitudes toward people with dementia. 

OMA impacts both generations because it is built on evidence that we all flourish through social connections. As society becomes more age-segregated and technology further exacerbates our separation, people need more opportunities to connect. OMA uses art to forge these connections. It taps into schools’ needs for more service-learning opportunities for students and nursing homes’ needs for more meaningful engagement for residents with dementia. 

A recent study shows that medical students from six universities who participated in OMA came to “like” older adults more. This could potentially result in better treatment of older adults in medical settings.

To scale the OMA program, we will tap the Elevate Prize network and expertise to better utilize our extensive training materials, 100+ piloted art projects, a fidelity assessment tool and other evaluation tools, and web-based support for trained facilitators.