Improvising Dementia

Welcome to our research project! 

You are invited to participate in a research study called "Improvising with Dementia: Exploring everyday spontaneity to support caring relationships". This arts-based project will bring together people in caring relationships who live with dementia to seek deeper understanding of our moment-to-moment interactions and how we adapt to change with each other socially. We will do this by working together in partnership with artists and researchers from the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation to create our own arts-based improvisation workshops and exercises, drawing on resources of music, dance, theatre, visual arts, and conversation in its many forms - collectively and collaboratively. There will be opportunities to participate in person, on-line, and in hybrid in-person/online contexts. 

The program consists of events that take place on three or four different days during a period of approximately two weeks to one month. These events include: 

• An orientation meeting and visioning session (approximately 1.5 to 2 hours)

• An improvisation workshop (approximately 2 hours)

• An interview and/or a focus group (approximately 1-2 hours)

Participants may choose to participate in any or all of the program elements listed above. (Please note that we will use video to record interactions, interviews, and focus groups for private analysis and research communication, according to participants' consent and preferences. Videos will be watched by researchers and analysts and some parts may be used to support presentations and publications.) Participants will also be invited to participate in the data analysis processes and discussions with researchers on an ongoing basis throughout the project. Participation in the research is voluntary and may stop at any time without penalties. 

Minimal risks may include: injury in light movement exercises (with chair options); feelings of nervousness, self-consciousness, or emotional vulnerability in creative scenarios; being recognized in video footage during analysis or presentation. Benefits may include: social connections, active participation in healthy arts activity, fun, skills development in artistic practice or coping with feelings above; having your voice heard in research and knowledge creation. 

If you live with dementia as a person who has been diagnosed or as a person who cares for a person with a diagnosis (family member, partner, spouse, professional careworker, volunteer, friend, neighbour, etc.), we welcome and encourage you to join our project team and to participate in the research project. All participants will be asked to sign a consent waiver and media release form. 

Video data collected during this study and useable for other future studies will help to inform the development of future arts-based programs; the development of policies; and the development of tool kits and guidelines to support people who live with dementia in caring relationships in everyday life. Data will be stored indefinitely in encrypted storage and/or locked in University of Guelph facility accessible only to principal investigator Dr. Mervyn Horgan and researcher Dr. An Kosurko. 

At the end of the two-year project, results summaries will be made available online and in person in community research reports, public presentations, academic conferences, and scientific journals. Any identifying images used in publications or presentations will be with participants' permissions. Participants will have the option to remain informed of opportunities and updates on an ongoing basis by signing up for an e-newsletter and various social media channels. 

This study is hosted by the International Institute for Critical Studies of Improvisation at the University of Guelph, Canada and funded by Mitacs Elevate program in partnership with Musagetes Foundation. This study has been approved by the University of Guelph Research Ethics Board. 

We look forward to exploring spontaneity with you! 

Dr. An Kosurko| (she/her/they/them) Post-doctoral Researcher 

Dr. Mervyn Horgan (he/him) Supervising Principal Investigator, Associate Professor 

Department of Sociology & Anthropology 

International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation, University of Guelph MCKN637, 50 Stone Road East, University of Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada 

ankosurko@uoguelph.ca or mhorgan@uoguelph.ca 519-824-4120 Ext. 56373