Thesis
Design for Creative Aging: can collaborative art-making enhance non-verbal communication between individuals living with dementia and their care partners?
Abstract
As we continue to live longer, the number of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease is trending upwards. Today, 5.8 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, and nearly 14 million individuals will be diagnosed with the disease by 2050(1). With the rising cost of both in-home and out-of-home professional care and the increasing desire to age-in-place, caregiving by family members is becoming commonplace in North American households.
At first, this thesis set out to explore if art making in the home could cultivate new forms of non-verbal communication between individuals living with progressive Alzheimer’s and their family caregivers (spouse, daughter etc.).
However, due to the spread of COVID-19, this thesis asks a new question: Can art-making in nursing homes enhance non-verbal communication between individuals living with dementia and their care partners (staff, nurses etc.)? How can caregivers and individuals living with dementia feel empowered to make together? Design for Creative Aging explores these questions through a series of in-person and virtual art-making workshops in a Seattle-based memory unit.
Source:
(1) Alzheimer’s Association. (2020). 2019 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures
Download the full thesis publication.
Committee
- Kristine Matthews, Chair (Visual Communication Design)
- Annabelle Gould (Visual Communication Design)
- Dr. Lee Burnside (UW Medicine)
Bio
Cal Dobrzynski is a visual and environmental designer based in Seattle, WA. Born and raised in New Jersey, Cal attended the Pennsylvania State University and received her Bachelor of Design in 2016. Prior to attending the UW, Cal worked as a digital and print designer in NYC at Coach Inc. Upon graduation, she will be a part-time lecturer in the UW HCDE undergraduate program during the summer quarter. Cal is also a volunteer at the Frye art Museum and a design consultant for the UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center’s new Memory Hub for dementia friendly communities in First Hill.
Installations
- Seattle Design Festival, Looking Forward, 2019
- Jacob Lawrence Gallery, MDes Works in Progress, 2019
Awards
- de Cillia Graduating with Excellence Award, 2020
- Boyer and Elizabeth Bole Gonzales Scholarship, 2019
Education
- Master of Design, University of Washington, 2020
- Bachelor of Design, Graphic Design, Penn State, 2016
Commentary
Read the full commentary about Cal Dobrzynski by Heidi Biggs.
Cal’s programming is unique because it advocates for art as an approachable, everyday activity that genuinely improves the lives of people with Alzheimer’s disease and their relationships with their caregivers. In many cases, artists are brought in to run art programs, but Cal believes that creativity can be facilitated and enjoyed by anyone. There is some kind of belief that an artist must provide arts programming, but Cal addressed this head-on as her designs argue for every day, non-specialized art interactions between caregivers and their memory loss patients. Cal’s main goal is to communicate that people with Alzheimer’s and memory loss are still people, and she is designing spaces for them and their caregivers to connect and relate in ways that don’t infantilize or talk past the person with Alzheimer’s or memory loss. Through her thesis, she ultimately argues that creativity is for everyone, at any stage in life, and art practices can give Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers a new, empowering way to interact.
– Heidi Biggs
