Working with the mind in dementia, not against it

The following (edited) item was posted to the NURSE PHILOSOPHY list by Phil Benjamin;
plus Sandwell Third Age Art's DVD: ‘Fountain's Jolly Inn’ (no longer available?).

You may be interested in a novel and sophisticated model for aged care in Tasmania. This model is based on a sophisticated psychological interventions based on an understanding of the intact affective life and needs of patients, even with the most severe cognitive disabilities - useful links below:

Dementia can produce challenging and erratic behaviours. The disease itself is one cause, but so is the world outside. Which psychosocial interventions really make a difference? And, a tour through an orthodox nursing home for the most extreme cases -- there's a bus stop with no bus, a car that won't go -- and it really works.

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2008/2390391.htm

This film was about the making of a pub themed area inside a residential home for older people with mental health needs.
It was made by Paul Nocher.
The DVD shows how a little imagination can go a long way in creating an interesting and stimulating environment in a residential home and how the transformation of a space can enrich the lives of the people who live in it.