Funny things happen at the Grange: introducing comedy activities in day services to older people with dementia – innovative practice

This paper shares outcomes from the evaluation of a community project where comedy activities were introduced into a day centre for older people with dementia as a result of a partnership between the day centre, a local university and a specialist comedy provider. Four workshops were provided using improvisatory activities and comedy, as a medium to engage older people in reflecting on aspects of their care environment. The main output resulted in a 30 minute ‘mockumentary’ of the ‘Her Majesty the Queen’ visiting the day centre in the form of a digital reusable learning object to be used by social work and mental health professionals. The evaluation demonstrated some additional outcomes for those involved and highlighted the benefits of laughter and fun in promoting a positive climate.

Published online but print version in press as of 13/8/2013.