Open Air Museum Dementia Program Receives International Recognition

The third place winner of the SozialMarie Prize went to the Dementia Program of the Hungarian Open Air Museum in Szentendre (near Budapest). The award was presented at a ceremony in Vienna on May 1, the ethnographic museum announced. The SozialMarie

By: hungarytoday.hu

May 05 2024
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Open Air Museum Dementia Progr

The SozialMarie Prize rewards social innovations that shape the future in Central Europe and offer solutions to social challenges by inspiring others with new approaches. The Dementia Program of the Open Air Museum was ranked third out of 288 entries from Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, and Slovakia, after an international peer review.

According to the press release, the open air ethnographic museum’s initiative “reinterprets the role of museums in the context of dementia care and organizes activities that stimulate cognitive abilities and provide therapeutic benefits.

Through the healing power of art, the program supports people affected by dementia, combining culture with care, providing a unique methodological and mental health resource.”

The museum’s dementia sessions evoke the youth of the elderly. The setting, including the costumes of the instructors, focuses on the period between the 1950s and 1970s, complete with objects from the period.

The open discussions bring to life the emotions and memories associated with the objects. The choice of objects is based on the need to appeal to as many senses as possible. The hot drink offered is served from a period mug, the sight of a sugar bowl and a small spoon brings back memories of their youth, and the scent of period perfume brings back forgotten memories.

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