Supporting Patients Living with Dementia During a Pandemic

Insights from applied theatre placement student experiences on learning to connect with patients living with dementia, in acute hospital settings, during a pandemic, and while crossing the liminal spaces of virtual and in-person presence.

How did a group of higher education applied theatre placement students learn to connect with patients living with dementia, in an acute hospital setting, during a global pandemic? How did they navigate the liminal spaces of inhabiting a virtual space while striving for real-life presence and an equality of learning and knowledge exchange?

In this book, authors and project leaders Dr Nicola Abraham PhD and Ma. Victoria Ruddock BSN present narratives and anecdotal examples of how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the learning of these placement students and how they adapted the learning expectations of the project in order to account for the liminality of combining virtual and in-person space inhabitation.

Through stories and reflections from the project the authors explore the meaning of a pedagogy of reciprocity and ways of navigating uncertainty. They discuss the essential need for horizontal team structures to enhance learning experiences and consider the uses of transmedia communication tools.

Learning objectives
Introduction
1: Acute ambitions to be yourself (I)
Assignment suggestion: Transmedia facilitation and creative practice
2: Playful ageing (us)
Assignment suggestion: Horizonal teamwork task
3: Reciprocity and uncertainty (we)
Assignment suggestion: Reciprocity and improvisation
Assignment suggestion: Responding to uncertainty
Conclusion
Recommended further reading