Project Abstract | Parallels of Improvisation and Alzheimers

On September 27th, 2000 I received a phone call from my Mom and within twenty four hours I was on a plane flying to be with my family and wait for my Dad to pass away. During that time of sitting, laughing, thinking, crying and rambling - I realized that the world of Improvisation was very similar to the world of caregiving and Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

I am not sure why the idea hit me then, maybe it was divine inspiration, maybe someone was telling me the reason why my Dad had Alzheimer's or maybe I was sleep deprived. Probably all of the above.

I had attended a lot of very informative and well executed workshops and trainings. But I am not a very good learner. I need information presented to me in many ways. I remember sitting in a class and listening to the instructor talking about effective communication with persons with dementia. All I could think of was how tired I was of sitting . If she would just do this improv exercise it would illustrate her point more clearly and get everyone up and moving. Hmmmm....

So I received three grants to research develop and pilot this program at four health care facilities.

So that's the end of the beginning. Let's move on the the middle.