Improv Theater as Therapy for Memory Loss

By Jeany Miller

Here, no script needs to be reviewed, no lines are memorized and participants act on instinct alone. This is an improvisational acting group, and a hit Broadway play is not the goal. Instead, these select individuals have gathered as a means to improve cognitive skills and memory loss. While improv theater is a new and unique way to do such, it is also rapidly gaining support.

The Science Behind Improv Theater

Physicians recommend that patients with Alzheimers remain physically and mentally active. This is thought to help with cognitive skills retention for as long as possible. Improv theater takes that ideology two steps further. First, it provides Alzheimers patients with a safe and secure environment in which to express all of their emotions, both good and bad. Second, those patients can look around them and know they are not the only ones experiencing such a confusing life period. That is a nod of reassurance that they do not stand alone. The goal with improv theater is not necessarily to remember, but for patients to learn to trust their instincts. They practice expression, physical movement and word identification. In this manner, all words are treated as useful, and even the simplest thoughts have meaning.

Dementia Patients and Creative Acting

While such artistic endeavors as quilting, knitting and pottery are recommended for patients suffering from Alzheimers, dementia patients can also benefit from such. Anne Davis Basting works with nursing home residents and now conducts storytelling and role playing activities with them. These are based upon theater workshop techniques and have proven to help pull patients from their solitude, if only momentarily. It also helps the home facilitators interact with residents. Says Basting, At the core of this entire thing is just learning how to be in the company of people with dementia. They are set adrift on the ice floe, and weve got to find a way to bring them back to shore. Many theater workshops for elderly people are reminiscence-based. This forces the participants to try to remember lines, give appropriate facial expressions and move accordingly. Basting, however, draws upon the improv aspect and allows participants to just invent responses as they go. They are allowed to utilize their imaginations and find simple means of communication.

Proven Results of Improv Theater

According to studies, physical exercise helps promote healthier brains as well as a more shapely body. New data indicates that regular movement might even help in patients with Alzheimers. This may mean improved cognitive abilities and a slower decline of memory. For participants in the Memory Ensemble at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the results of improv theater are determined by how they feel at the end of each session. For example, when asked to describe their emotions using a color, one patient stated she felt blue at the beginning of the session. At the end of the therapy, however, her emotional color had changed to yellow. Leaders of the Memory Ensemble indicate that they simply want to enhance the lives of Alzheimers patients. The weekly improvisational acting workshop is designed to unite persons with memory loss and provide them with a place where they can challenge themselves but still feel secure, according to Christine Mary Dunford, one of the groups facilitators. Darby Morhardt, another facilitator, indicated, We need to capture what effects we can. Those effects may range from increased confidence to improved quality of life. In either case, the participants gather faithfully for their sessions and engage in all manner of expressive thoughts. Sources: http://www.memorylossonline.com/winter2010/creative_healing.html http://www.chicagonewscoop.org/trying-improv-as-therapy-for-those-with-memory-loss/ http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/exercise.html#physicalexercise