CREATIVE CARE
A Revolutionary Approach to Dementia and Elder Care
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“Moving, honest, and timely - Creative Care’s inspiring stories will comfort families struggling with dementia across the world.”
The Power of Connecting through Imagination, Joy, and Wonder
Basting pioneers a radical change in how we interact with older loved ones, especially those experiencing dementia, as she introduces a proven method that uses the creative arts to bring light and joy to the lives of elders.
In Creative Care, Anne Basting lays the groundwork for a widespread transformation in our approach to elder care and uses compelling, touching stories to inspire and guide us all—family, friends, and health professionals—in how to connect and interact with those living with dementia.
Basting tells the story of how she pioneered a radical change in how we interact with our older loved ones. Now used around the world, this proven method has brought light and joy to the lives of elders—and those who care for them. Here, for the first time, everyone can learn these methods. Early in her career, Basting noticed a problem: today’s elderly—especially those experiencing dementia and Alzheimer’s— are often isolated in nursing homes or segregated in elder-care settings, making the final years of life feel lonely and devoid of meaning. To alleviate their sense of aloneness, Basting developed a radical approach that combines methods from the world of theater and improvisation with evidence-based therapies that connect people using their own creativity and imagination.
Rooted in twenty-five years of research, these new techniques draw on core creative exercises—such as “Yes, and . . .” and “Beautiful Questions.” This approach fosters storytelling and active listening, allowing elders to freely share ideas and stories without worrying about getting the details “correct.” Basting’s research has shown that these practices stimulate the brain and awaken the imagination to add wonder and awe to patients’ daily lives—and provide them a means of connection, both with the world and with those caring for them. Creative Care promises to bring light and hope to a community that needs it most.
“Anne Basting’s approach to aging invites us to shift focus from how well we remember the past to how well we inhabit the present - for ourselves and with others. She reveals the power of creativity to expand our humanity and enrich the time we have.”
A Note from the Author
This book chronicles the story of how I came to find the power of creative care, the elements of it, and how creative care practices can help transform our care relationships and systems themselves.
I hope you find these stories both soothing and inspiring. The team at TimeSlips, the non-profit I founded to spread this approach, works furiously to bring creative engagement tools to caregivers in every setting. Visit the site, become a member (family & friend membership is free!), and spread the word - that creativity is the pathway to meaning, purpose and connection.
Together we can transform the experience of aging and dementia.
— Anne
“Anne Basting’s latest book, Creative Care, is a love letter to aging, written for those dealing with memory loss, Alzheimer’s, or other forms of dementia to all those who care for them. In it, she combines her extensive background in theater arts with her expertise in eldercare to craft something new: A ‘reciprocal’ model of care in which caregiver and care recipient become co-creators who work together to fashion an approach that is filled with play, purpose, and possibility. Basting artfully blends her own stories, the stories of others, and the latest eldercare research, to show how art and improvisation can be employed to help elders connect to the world in joy-filled ways that fulfill rather than diminish. Hers is not a prescription filled with ‘shoulds;’ it’s a beautifully rendered invitation to be curious and flexible, meeting elders wherever they happen to be in the moment and making that moment richer, sweeter, and more meaningful for all who dwell in it.”
“Alzheimer’s is devastating because it doesn’t only affect the person suffering from the disease. In the face of this challenge the response from the academic and policy side has been feeble. For the first time, this book gives people hope and powerful ways to deal with its challenges.”
“Basting artfully blends candid and intimate autobiography, compelling narratives, provocative theory and clear instruction. This isn’t yet another caregiver manual. It is a testament to the moral worth of caregiving and the humanity of persons living with dementia.”
“Basting brings hope and meaning to the millions of families living in the shadows of Alzheimer’s disease. A powerful book of healing.”
Reader's Guide
Here are some questions to help you shape a discussion about Creative Care. You might also visit www.timeslips.org to learn to host an Engagement Party, a positive, interactive gathering to share simple engagement techniques with elders who might be isolated or experiencing dementia.
Do you have friends of different ages—older or younger than you? How do you think this affects your view / experience of aging?
Have you made plans for your own late life? How / where do you hope to live? What challenges to staying connected to your community do you imagine? How do you hope to ensure you will have access to meaning-making and learning / growing?
Do you consider yourself to be creative? Why or why not?
Do you have ways you like to express yourself or qualities / habits that are unique to you? Perhaps your humor? Or cooking? Gardening? These are really forms of creative expression. Can you create a list of all the ways you might express yourself creatively?
Meaningfulness links personal experience or expression with the larger world.
What kinds of things do you do that link you to the larger world? Volunteer? Recycle? Donate to causes? Call and check in on a neighbor? Do you find these meaningful?
Can you imagine ways you might link the unique ways you express yourself creatively with the larger world? An example might be that I like to write funny postcards to friends. What if I wrote funny postcards to people receiving Meals on Wheels?
Can you imagine “yes, and” helping you in a conversation with an elder with dementia? Do you have a specific example? Do you know people who might feel isolated because of age or disability? How might you reach out to them in a way that won’t feel overwhelming to either of you?
Do you remember a moment when you felt really listened to? Heard? Perhaps it was a parent, a friend, or a teacher. What does that feel like? Who was the listener? What did they do that was so powerful?
Creative Care shares the story of the Penelope Project, when an entire continuing care community reimagined the story of Homer’s Odyssey. And the I Won’t Grow Up Project, where 12 nursing homes reimagined the story of Peter Pan. What story might you select to reimagine? What are the themes of that story that compel you?
The I Won’t Grow Up Project engaged all the elders in 12 nursing homes in creating an “I Am” poem. Can you create your own?
I am [your name] I am [a childhood activity or memory that is special to you] I am [a place that is special to you] I am [something you are proud of in your life] I am [how you are feeling now] I am [your name]
People don’t tend to see beauty in late life. What do you think you could say is beautiful about late life? How might you capture that in words or perhaps a portrait?
The number of elders living with cognitive challenges is expected to triple over the next 20 years. It will touch nearly everyone’s life in some way. What groups or organizations are you part of that might be open to learning more about how they could better support elders and people living with dementia in your community?
PRESS / REVIEWS
New York Times: First Person
Interview with Lulu Garcia Navarro, March 16, 2023
Wall Street Journal
Interview by Carol Hymowitz, April 14, 2022
BOOKLIST
”The best medicine may be getting people to improvise, stay positive, and share their stories. How? Use techniques from the theater. Basting, a MacArthur fellow, holder of a PhD, and a professor of theater at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, convincingly argues that “creative care” can be the most meaningful treatment for people with dementia, their loved ones, and their caregivers. Why not use the power of the arts to focus on strengths that remain and to bring more meaning to life? Basting divides her book into three parts: finding creative care, defining creative care, and changing care. Her helpful “notes for caregivers” include “beautiful questions” that “reveal and exercise remaining strengths.” For example, during a quiet moment looking out a window together, a question might be, “If the tree could talk, what might it say?” She also recommends “cultivating moments of awe,” which can include looking at, drawing, or writing about a sunset and the feelings it summons. Basting crafts a memorable message about the importance of emotional connections for people with dementia, and everyone else, too.”
—Karen Springen
“A moving and honest book, Creative Care delves into the complex world of how we care for our elders in our modern society, and suggests a revolutionary new way to engage and bring joy to those living with all forms of dementia.”
“The book brings together myriad techniques refined over more than two decades of research (Basting 2009) and couples them with stories of the transformative experiences of persons with dementia and their care partners to offer a new, practice-oriented primer to apply creativity to dementia and elder care. Her emotive, accessible writing style invites readers to follow her creative engagement process, and the book provides ample prompts and tips for engaging with the older adults in our lives, regardless of diagnoses or disability.”
— Joy Ciofi, The Gerontology Institute at GSU
EVENTS
Contact Courtney Nobile at courtney.nobile@harpercollins.com to arrange a book talk.
2024
Franklin Institute, Philadelphia: Music, Meaning, and Your Brain,
March 13th
CU Anschutz Division of Geriatric Medicine, Grand Rounds, March 7th
2023
International Neuropaliative Care Society: Keynote
The End Loneliness Symposium hosted by Little Brothers for the Elderly, Chicago. April 4th.
Dubin Center Annual Symposium, Fort Meyers, FL;
March 1st
2022
Keynote at the Healthcare Clowning International Meeting; April 21st.
12th Annual Hinsz Lecture, North Dakota State University Dept of Human Development and Family Science. April 25th.
2021
Creative Care: The power of meaning-making and community-building. A talk by Anne Basting hosted by UT Austin’s Texas Aging and Longevity Center.
May 20th, 7pm CT
On Dementia: Care, Community and Creativity Book Series
A webinar conversation with Anne Basting, hosted by the Frye Art Museum, Aging Wisdom, and the Memory and Brain Wellness Center at the University of Washington.
May 13th 12-1 PT
SE Wisconsin Festival of the Book: a conversation with Anne Basting (Creative Care) and Ellyn Lem (Gray Matters).
Nov. 7th. 7pm
Fox Valley Book Festival,
Oct 12th. 1:30.
CaringKind NYC hosts Anne Basting for The Loraine Hollis Lecture on the Art & Science of Caregiving.
Sept 16, 1:30 - 2:30 ET
Creative Care Institute - a 2-day virtual event hosted by TimeSlips. Free/donation appreciated!
July 15-16.
The WAM Summit. The Latest on Women’s Brains, Alzheimer’s Prevention, and Caregiving.
June 25th, 3pm PT
Experience Talks - a conversation with Engage Founder Tim Carpenter.
Tuesday, June 23rd, 11am PT
Iona Senior Services in Washington DC hosts a Conversation with Anne Basting and Jennie Smith-Peers.
June 3rd, 10CT/11ET.
Penn Memory Center Conversation with Geriatrician, Dr. Jason Karlawish. May 27th, 9am.
Milwaukee Jewish Museum hosts a conversation with Anne Basting and Ellie Gettinger,
May 27th, 7pm.
The Big Launch! Conversation about Creative Care with writer Marylouise Schumacher, hosted by Boswell Books.
May 19th, 7pm. You can purchase signed copies online from Boswell’s!
