A new Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) research project has Glasgow Caledonian University teaming up with some of the biggest football clubs in Scotland to help people with dementia.
The project is part of the AHRC/Scottish Funding Council (SFC) Knowledge Exchange Programme: A healthier Scotland. This joint programme for knowledge exchange in health, the environment, arts and humanities was launched earlier this year and will invest more than £500,000 in six university-led projects over the next two years.
Clubs including Celtic, Hearts, Motherwell and Hibs are inviting people with dementia and their helpers to visit their grounds for a coffee and a chat all about the beautiful game, as part of a project designed by the university and partner organisations to assist memories and stimulate conversation. People who do or did not follow any particular team are invited to Hampden, home of the national side.
Professor Debbie Tolson, of Glasgow Caledonian University, said: “Recalling memories, and doing this in a sociable, friendly context provides important stimulation for the brain that helps to slow down the rate of decline. Football is unique because even those who were not passionate followers of the game have memories associated with it.
“If people are left without cognitive stimulation, the pace of decline accelerates. We are trying to build knowledge through creative ways for young and old to see how they can make a difference to the lives of those with dementia, particularly to offset loneliness. That would be a tangible legacy for the project and a hugely important life benefit to people with dementia and those who love and care for them.”
Research by the Scottish Football Reminiscence Partnership (Glasgow Caledonian University, Scottish Football Museum, European Former Players Association (EFPA), Alzheimer Scotland, St Louis University USA, University of the West of Scotland ) has already established that showing football memorabilia to men with dementia stimulates their memories with amazing results.
A grant of £75,000 from the Scottish Funding Council and the Arts and Humanities Research Council will now help people benefit from this research as part of a new Scotland-wide programme to spread knowledge and innovation in health, the environment, arts and humanities.
Researchers will be gathering oral histories from people with dementia at the coffee mornings. Some of these will be made into memory cube exhibits, which will feature the voice of the person with dementia, photos and text, and put on display in the National Football Museum and taken around the country.
The project will also be setting up a Facebook site (Memories FC) featuring stories from players and people with dementia and updates on the project findings.
And well-known writer Padraig Coyle will be writing a play based on the reminiscences of those who take part in the project. It will be staged during a community conference at Hampden Park to mark the end of the project. Members of the public are welcome to attend the event and public seminars, which will include tours around the Scottish Football Museum. The first public seminar will be held in November.
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AHRC Media contact: Jake Gilmore, Communications Manager, 01793 416021; j.gilmore@ahrc.ac.uk
Notes to Editors:
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC): Each year the AHRC provides approximately £100 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes hundreds of research awards ranging from individual fellowships to major collaborative projects as well as over 1,100 studentship awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.
AHRC SFC Knowledge Exchange Programme: A healthier Scotland
The joint Scottish Funding Council/Arts and Humanities Research Council programme for knowledge exchange in health, the environment, arts and humanities was launched earlier this year and will invest more than £500,000 in six university-led projects over the next two years.
The AHRC SFC Knowledge Exchange Programme aims to:
• support research based knowledge exchange projects that are driven by the clear and strong involvement of non Higher Education Institution (HEI) partners and which lead to significant outcomes for those organisations as well as for the HEI(s);
• promote the contribution that the arts and humanities can make to a healthier Scotland, specifically in the context of the environment and health, and;
• contribute strategically to the Scottish Government’s national objective for a healthier Scotland
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/scotPerforms/objectives/healthier
The six AHRC SFC Knowledge Exchange Programme: A healthier Scotland Projects are:
1. Visualising the invisible: developing innovative approaches to visualisation to help NHS staff prevent and control Healthcare Associated Infections, Dr Colin Macduff, Robert Gordon University (lead partners NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Grampian, NHS Education)
2. Harnessing the Heritage of Football: : Creating Meaningful Activities and Therapeutic Work with People with dementia, Dr Debbie Tolson, Glasgow Caledonian University (lead partners Scottish Football Museum, Alzheimer Scotland)
3. Facilitating Engagement with Hospital Grounds: Greenspace Design, Development and Management for Health and Wellbeing, Dr Sarah-Anne Munoz, UHI Millenium Institute (lead partners Forestry Commission Scotland, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Highland)
4. Sunshine, Health and Wellbeing in Housing, Dr Tim Sharpe, Glasgow School of Art (lead partner Glasgow Housing Association)
5. The Art of Meaningful Access: Understanding and reducing the effect of visual impairment on young people’s art appreciation, Dr David Feeney, Edinburgh University (lead partners NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Flip: Disability Equality in the Arts, Fruitmarket Gallery, Project Ability)
6. Towards a Training Model for Effective Ethical Translation in Health Care Settings in Scotland, Professor Alison Phipps, University of Glasgow (lead partner Black and Ethnic Minority Infrastructure Scotland)