In their own words: An exploration of primary children's participation in a dementia education program.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: As the population ages the prevalence of dementia increases and children are increasingly experiencing family members and older friends living with dementia. Unfortunately, stigma about living with dementia is common. Increasing understanding about dementia among children has the potential to reduce this stigma. This paper reports on the qualitative findings of Project DARE (dementia knowledge, art, research and education), a school-based, multi-modal, arts program designed to increase understanding about dementia among children aged 8-10 years. METHODS: A constructivist grounded theory approach was used to understand students' experience of the intervention. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes emerging from interviews with randomly selected students (n = 40) who had taken part in the program. RESULTS: The data analysis generated three themes related to students' awareness of dementia and experiences of the program: (1) nurturing empathy, (2) memory loss is complex, (3) learning about dementia through the arts to promote resilience. These themes show that the intervention increased students' awareness of dementia, and empathy towards people who are both directly and indirectly affected by dementia. CONCLUSIONS: Although dementia education can be viewed as too sensitive for primary aged students, the current study demonstrates that such initiatives are feasible and can be effectively implemented with this age group. SO WHAT?: Changing student's beliefs about dementia can positively impact their relationships with people living with dementia.

Dementia knowledge, art, research and education - Teaching primary school children about dementia.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: To develop, implement and evaluate the impact of a short education intervention on the understanding of dementia through visual art by primary school-aged children. METHODS: A series of three lessons were developed in consultation with a local schoolteacher and community artists and taught in a local primary school. Stage 2 students (8-10 years old) created an artwork about memory, learned about dementia and adapted their artworks to represent their developing understanding of dementia. Empirical data were collected through pre and postinterventions surveys and content analysis of the artworks. RESULTS: Matched pre and postintervention survey data were obtained for 74 students and showed a significant improvement in seven domains. This indicated that the students had an increased understanding of dementia and its impact on the individual following the intervention. Matched artwork was analysed from lessons 1 and 3 for 109 students using a coding schema developed specifically for this project. The students developed their artwork to show memories fading or being lost altogether. They also used abstract shapes to create a sense of disorder and chaos. CONCLUSION: Participation in the intervention was shown to increase students' understanding and knowledge of dementia using both qualitative and quantitative measures. SO WHAT?: It is likely that by educating children about dementia, we have the potential to reduce the stigma faced by people living with dementia and their carers. This is important, as the ageing population means that more people within the community, including children, will know someone living with dementia. Further, this represents the cornerstone in creating dementia-friendly communities.