TIMESLIPS: By Barbara Kyles Storytelling with Persons with Dementia/Communication Difficulties/Loneliness If we can nurture our own creative voices, we can then encourage creative growth and expression among those for whom we care. TimeSlips is an innovative and effective storytelling method that celebrates the creativity of people with dementia. -Anne Basting, Project Director: TimeSlips What is Creativity? Creativity is the ability to add something new to the world that has value. Creativity is a basic characteristic of human nature and can be expressed in many different ways. Creative Expression Creative Expression is crucial for people with dementia, a progressive and degenerative disease of the brain, because their usual modes of communication are breaking down Dementia can be a painful and frightening. Communicating with others is difficult for many people. Dementia can be a painful and frightening. Communicating with others is difficult for many people. Creative expression helps people with difficulty communicating to interact with others. Creative expression helps people with difficulty communicating to interact with others. Communication is Crucial Communication is the way we connect to the world and to one another so increasing opportunities to communicate is important for all folks whether they----- have dementia have developmental disabilities live alone or have few opportunities to talk with others are shy TimeSlips Provides a way for easy communication In a social setting That is welcoming and non-judgemental That is fun That recognizes the contributions of all participants Overview TimeSlips was created by Dr. Anne Basting of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in The TimeSlips intervention is a group storytelling technique that affords those with mild to moderate dementia an outlet for creative expression (Sims, 2005). Storytelling workshops were first run in 1998 in Milwaukee and New York City. These stories were shared through a series of art events including a website, an art instillation, a roundtable discussion, and a professional play production (Basting, 2002). TimeSlips can just be a way to get together and and create a story. . Goals of TimeSlips Aid people with dementia to enhance and explore the capacity of their imaginations. Focus on the assets and gifts of persons with dementia, and look beyond their losses. Improve the quality of life of persons with dementia and their caregivers. Creating a story that makes sense is NOT the goal The emphasis is on creative expression and the process of storytelling. The TimeSlips Storytelling Process 1.TimeSlips facilitators choose one or two images that will be used to help formulate a story. If two are chosen the group picks the picture that they want to create a story around. 2.Images that tend to work best are those that appear to be staged or abstract. 3.Images that are too realistic may cause participants to think there is a real story based from it or that they should recognize the image, and therefore withdraw from the creative process. The Storytelling Process A group of 8-10 people with dementia become the storytellers as they gather in a circle and are provided a copy of the selected image. Everyone is greeted. One facilitator encourages the participants to build a story by asking open ended questions based on the image. For example: Where does he/she live? Is it cold outside? What is he/she thinking? Does the person in the picture have a family? Process continued... A scribe listens and records all the responses, along with who said them, on a large pad of paper. All responses are recorded. Even if they seem to not make sense, each response is woven into the fabric of the story, including sounds, songs, gestures, or word fragments. A facilitator reads the story aloud after every four or five responses to rebuild the momentum and validate what each storyteller has contributed. Personnel and Supplies A facilitator A recorder/scribe 5-10 participants is ideal. I have done it with 3 to 16. Helpers Easel, flipchart, colored markers, name tags ( not needed if you know all of the participants), pictures. Nine Steps of TimeSlips 1.Create the atmosphere 2.Welcome each storyteller to the activity 3.Hand out the image and retell the story from the previous session 4.Present a new image or have the group select from two 5.Ask open-ended questions 6.Write down all responses Steps continued 7. Retelling the story 8. Building to a final retelling 9. Clapping and thanking the storytellers Basting, A. D. (2004). TimeSlips Creative Storytelling With People With Dementia. UWM Milwaukee Center on Aging and Community A traditional story is thought of as having a clear beginning, middle, and end. The stories created during TimeSlips sessions often go beyond the limits of traditional stories. The stories may be non-linear and non-realistic but may also create a world of logic all their own. The Impact of TimeSlips Increased socialization, communication, and creative thinking for both staff, caregivers, and people with dementia (Timeslips, 2000). Improved public perception of the capacity of people with dementia (Timeslips, 2000). Therapeutic benefit from people with dementia sharing ideas and thoughts in a group setting. Increased job satisfaction for facilitators (Timeslips, 2000). Increased staff knowledge regarding the importance of nurturing creativity in those they care for (Basting, 2000). Increased quality of life for those with dementia. Therapeutic benefits of increased social interactions among people with dementia and those that care for them. Quote from Forget Memory People with dementia are sewn into figurative straightjackets by institutions that tell them they are diseased, inappropriate, challenging, passive objects in need of care. And somehow a black and white picture, a marker, a flip chart, and someone asking them what they think and writing down their answers is enough to break those seams. -Anne Basting Several of our residents have become more verbal and more responsive. We had about three people who just sat there and they actually become the most responsive in the storytelling group. They woke up. There is a lot of residual too. Ive noticed an increased alertness and increased responsiveness to their environment all through the day. -Director, Alzheimers Care Unit It makes me feel worthwhile -Storyteller Contact Information Barbara Kyles Barbara and Richard Csomay Center for Gerontological Excellence The University of Iowa College of Nursing