Art to Life is a 3-credit hour honors writing course sponsored by the Honors College in collaboration with Cognitive Dynamics Foundation. The purpose of the course is to improve quality of life for persons with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias and their families/caregivers through art therapy and life story preservation, to teach students about Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, person-centered care and the development of empathy for those with cognitive impairment, to enhance students’ understanding of the art of storytelling and life story preservation, and to promote intergenerational relationship building through this novel service learning model. A trained art therapist works with the participants over a period of ~ 8 weeks. Students document the sessions, interview family and friends of the participants, and collect memorabilia (including old photographs, sheet music, other objects, etc) for the creation of the life story project. Weeks not set aside for art therapy may be used for special class sessions or for visiting with participants and their families.
