Artists Are Painting Trompe L'Oeil Murals to Soothe People with Dementia

More than five million Americans have Alzheimer’s or similar illnesses, and that number is growing as the population ages - without any immediate prospect of a cure, advocacy groups have begun promoting ways to offer people with dementia a comfortable decline instead of imposing on them a medical model of care, which seeks to defer death through escalating interventions. An Arizona nursing home offers new ways to care for people with dementia.

A few adult children have found that the simplest arrangement can be found in an apartment at the same retirement community, as it enables them to care for their elderly parents efficiently.

More retirement and nursing homes are asking college students to move in, an arrangement that benefits everyone. Students stay free of charge in exchange for volunteering to help the seniors.

These days, most rural communities in the U.S. are elderly communities - 15 percent of Wyoming’s population is over 65 and a high percentage of them live on ranches in small towns. New caregiver programs allow seniors to continue living at home and to keep doing what they are able, with assistance provided if needed.

Through the Burbank Senior Artists Colony - a community created by EngAGE - low-income seniors learn how to become artists. The recreational classes hosted by the community keep people feeling phsyically and mentally young, allowing them to focus on recreation instead of financial hardship.

The U.S. prison population is aging, which is costly because older inmates need more care. Some states have responded by creating special wards, having the young inmates care for the old, or building nursing homes.

The Live6 area is home to a robust cultural and creative community. And with an increase in development, there's opportunity for artists and institutions to tap into that energy to spur growth.

Many medical students are intimidated by the challenge of having to gather accurate histories and establish connections with patients with dementia. A non-profit, Arts and Minds, is helping students get more comfortable by connecting them with patients outside of the clinic through museum visits.

What can you do to enjoy time with Alzheimer’s patients? A suburb near San Diego has recently opened a new town square with architecture designed to look like it is from the 1950s. The space offers aging baby boomers with dementia or Alzheimer’s a place to enjoy and interact with nostalgia.

There is a racial disparity in science, the black population is extremely underrepresented and due to historically terrible treatment of black individuals by science they are very reluctant to engage in research. Therefore, researchers are now starting to directly target black and other underrepresented groups to try to spur involvement.