Culture for me - project

The ’Culture for me’ project is a part of The Grip on life (Elämänote) programme that is funded by STEA, The Funding Centre for Social Welfare and Health Organisations, Finland. The aim of the Elämänote programme is to support the elderly to stay socially included and to ensure that they can live longer independently at home.

The ’Culture for me’ project started in August 2018. The project is an interprofessional collaboration of a social and health care sector worker and a professional dance artist. This enables a constant and authentic interaction between the brain health and the arts.

The main aim of the project is to promote wellbeing and social inclusion through arts and culture with people with memory deceases, their loved ones and people with impaired memory.

The project is collaborating with the social and health care sectors in Finland, senior outreach programmes, museums, theatres, art students, and various people within the Finnish culture and health care sectors.

Due to the global COVID19 pandemic all of the physical activities were changed into online groups in Spring 2020. Currently, the project offers various activities online:

• ’Culture for me’ groups
• Creative dance classes
• One-to-one art home visits
• Guided museum tours in collaboration with the Turku Art Museum
• Lectures.

We use an interdisciplinary approach to the arts - the participants can express their emotions and life stories through dance, music, creative writing and photography. Our aim is to make the arts approachable and a part of the participants’ everyday lives. Our goal is to encourage our participants and their loved ones to live an active lifestyle, in which nourishing creativity and social interaction is a key element for wellbeing.

Get in touch:

silja.mcnamara@muistiturku.fi
mirva.nurmio-bose@muistiturku.fi