A development initiative for South Asian Dance in the North West

Virginia Wesson's comments

It was an honour to have such a distinguished visitor and we all appreciated the time you devoted to us and your willingness to share your wonderful work.

You asked for a summary of the visit so I will start with a list of those who attended:

• Jenny – occupational therapist and mental health clinician who leads the group for the individuals with dementia
• Gita – occupational therapist and mental health clinician who facilitates carers’ groups and has an interest in mindfulness
• Rhonda – clinical psychologist and mental health clinician with extensive knowledge of neuropsychiatry
• Jenny – program assistant who helps in the coordination of our group program
• Dunstan – research assistant who is involved in the evaluation of our program
• Sarah – social worker and mental health clinician who facilitates groups and sees individual carers
• LJ – educator, experienced simulated patient with extensive knowledge of experiential learning and who is also an actor
• Helene – program manager with a diverse background which includes working in the non profit sector in Africa
• Einat – occupational therapist and mental health clinician who works closely with family physicians and their teams providing support to them as they care for patients with dementia and their families
• Kelvin – social work student visiting from Hong Kong and working at the Wellness Centre, a satellite clinic providing services to the Chinese community
• Connie – social worker at the Wellness Centre who also works at the Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care which also supports the Chinese community

We very much enjoyed learning about your work that uses dance in the care of individuals with dementia and their family and professional caregivers both in the community and in care homes. You began with a quote, “Dance gives me an enhanced sense of well being” and your work demonstrated how you bring that to life. As you said more than once, you cannot cure illness but you can use dance and the arts to draw people away from their suffering, give them a sense of connectedness rather than isolation and a feeling of mastery in situations where they are vulnerable and feel that they have lost control. You showed us how you raise awareness of dementia and make those with dementia participators in rather than observers of the arts. Particularly meaningful was your discussion of creating performances that are “dementia friendly” and welcome all who want to attend and take part.

Equally enjoyable was the opportunity to become part of an in vivo demonstration of your work. It was wonderful to see our whole team up on their feet dancing around the room with so little inhibition.
Again, thank you so very much for coming. I hope you enjoy the remainder of your time in Canada. If there is any way that we might help you in the future, please do not hesitate to ask.

Ginny
Virginia Wesson MD, MSc, FRCPC
Staff Psychiatrist
Mount Sinai Hospital
Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Health Complex
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
(416) 586-4800 ext. 6159
vwesson@mtsinai.on.ca