Village Improv for Alzheimer's

Program Description: Village Improv for Alzheimer’s (VIA) offers an innovative approach to person-centred dementia care. They use improvised theatre and storytelling to create meaningful activity for people living with dementia. Their core goals are to foster self-expression, agency, recreation, and social engagement. Their approach emphasizes their participants’ in-the-moment strengths and personality rather than their memory. The VIA team believes the most important impacts on people living with dementia include improved quality of life and new perspectives from care providers witnessing the creative potential of these individuals. Through this program, VIA has created a feeling of belonging where people living with dementia are recognized, valued, and validated through improv.
VIA is a regular part of the programming for the Alzheimer’s Society of Calgary's Club 36, an Adult Day Program (ADP) for people living with dementia. VIA also received funding from Alberta Health Services in 2019 to create a training program for healthcare professionals to run the program at their facilities.

Organization

The Village Improv for Alzheimer’s program was created in 2015 by Karen Johnson Diamond and Col Cseke at Verb Theatre in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society of Calgary. VIA was adopted in 2016 by Inside Out Theatre Company (IO), a deaf and disability company based in Calgary Alberta, who are equally invested in artistic excellence, community development, and deepening their cultures’ accessibility.
Inside Out (IO) offers community-based drama programs to Calgarians with disabilities that foster a love of theatre, the joy of community, and the rewards of self-expression. IO produces and presents plays created by artists with disabilities and their allies that insist on and celebrate their place in the public sphere. They also work to improve theatre’s accessibility for audience members and to ensure their equity and dignity in attending performing arts in Calgary.

For more information, watch the video below or visit their website at: https://www.insideouttheatre.com/partners