Leisure, Human Rights and Everyday Life with Dementia
news / August 8, 2024
Dr Chris Russell — Association of Dementia Studies at Worcester University
Originally Posted: ‘Meeting Centres Scotland‘
On 10th July I had the pleasure of visiting Paisley to help facilitate a workshop at the annual conference of the Leisure Studies Association. I was working alongside Billy and Pasna, from the Weekday Wow Meeting Centre in Govan, and Dr Liz Carlin, a colleague from the University of the West of Scotland, where the conference was held.
Visiting Paisley was good, not least because I like the music of Gerry Rafferty and even admit to a sneaky soft spot for St Mirren Football Club. After the day at the conference we were treated to an event in the Abbey. To get a stronger sense of the history of the town there was great. But the workshop was the main event! Let me tell you about that.
The Leisure Studies Association brings people together from across the world to consider leisure in all its forms, what it means for individuals and communities, and how it can contribute to everyday life. It is a well-established, well-regarded association, and the conference was energetic and enthusiastic.
Over several years I have been introducing the topic of dementia to that forum, mainly by giving presentations on research completed. This year was different though, because the workshop format enabled the audience to hear the lived experience of dementia directly. Billy lives with dementia and is a member of the Weekday Wow Meeting Centre. Because of his lived experience he was ideally placed to contribute to the workshop, entitled, ‘Leisure, Human Rights and Everyday Life with Dementia’.
The audience members were not dementia specialists, but they are influential in a field invaluable to all of our lives – leisure (the things that fascinate us and that we enjoy doing). Several had attended because of their own familial experience of dementia, which added poignancy and vitality to the event.
So, what did Billy, Pasna, Liz, myself and the audience conclude as a result of learning, coproduced through a combination of conversation and presentation?
—–That many leisure activities give opportunity for company and cognitive stimulation in combination (think of time spent playing cards with friends, for example).
—–The emphasis should not be upon leisure as therapy in the dementia context, unless that is what the person wishes and needs. What people want to do, how people want to spend their time matters more. Leisure is a right, after all, granted under article 30 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
—–People living with dementia can teach others new skills through leisure. One person talked about learning sewing in such a way, for example. Similarly, people living with dementia can learn new leisure skills, with art offered as an example.
—–Technology and physical places that hold significance can enable good leisure experiences for people living with dementia. Billy recounted the value his kindle offers for reading, for example, whilst Liz described the work done by Football Memories at Hampden Park.
An additional positive of the workshop was the fabulous opportunity it provided for co-working between Meeting Centres Scotland and the University of Worcester, who have a long established and vibrant working relationship. So, to have the chance to strengthen and progress that was most satisfactory.
Add in involvement from the University of the West of Scotland, the Leisure Studies Association, and the range of organisations from which the audience was drawn, and the effect was something akin to the textile powerhouse Paisley previously offered the world.
I am most grateful to have had the opportunity to work alongside Billy, Pasna and Liz and to help convene this workshop as part of the Leisure Studies Association annual conference.
