Enhancing Person-Centred Care through Research-

Based Drama

Christine Jonas-Simpson, Ph.D., Sherry L. Dupuis, Ph.D., Gail Mitchell, Ph.D., Colleen Whyte, Ph.D.(c),

Jennifer Gillies, Ph.D., and Jennifer Carson, Ph.D.(c)

We declare no conflict of Interest.

I’m Still Here

Clip from ISH

The Long Good-Bye

The 36 Hour Day

the BURDEN of care

the demented

a shell of himself

fading away

challenging behaviours

Loss of Selfdoomed

aggressive

Purpose To demonstrate the lasting impact (over a one-year period) of research-based drama on family members of persons with dementia and professionals working in dementia care

• human science/ phenomenology

• set of 15 pre- and post-performance focus groups (n=106 participants)

• interviews 6 weeks (n=99) and 12 months (n=83) after viewing

Methodology and Method

Process of Personal Transformation Through Research-

Based Drama

Opportunity to Bear Witness

to Other’s Suffering

Process of Personal Transformation Through Research-

Based Drama

Expanding While Affirming

Awareness and Understanding

Process of Personal Transformation Through Research-

Based Drama

Comfort, Confidence, and

Courage to Change

Process of Personal Transformation Through Research-

Based DramaInspiring

New Ways of Relating

with Others and Society

Process of Personal Transformation Through Research-

Based Drama

Igniting Transformative Self-Reflection

“I am concerned with the performance of subversive...narratives... The performance of possibilities aims to create ...a...space where unjust systems and processes are identified and interrogated.”

D. Soyini Madison, 1998

References1. Jonas-Simpson, C., Mitchell, G. J., Carson, J., Whyte, C., Dupuis, S., & Gillies, J. (in

press). Phenomenological shifts for healthcare professionals after experiencing a research-based drama on living with dementia. Journal of Advanced Nursing.

2. Mitchell, G., Dupuis, S., Jonas-Simpson, C., Whyte, C., Carson, J., & Gillies, J. (in press). The experience of engaging with research-based drama. Evaluation and explication of synergy and transformation. Qualitative Inquiry.

3. Dupuis, S. L., Gillies, J., Mitchell, G. J., Jonas-Simpson, C., Whyte, C., & Carson, J. (in press). Catapulting shifts in images, understandings and actions through research-based drama. Family Relations.

4. Mitchell, G., Dupuis, S., & Jonas-Simpson, C. (in press). Countering stigma with understanding: The role of theatre in social change and transformation. Canadian Theatre Review.

5. Mitchell, G. J., Jonas-Simpson, C. M., & Ivonoffski, V. (2006). Research-based theatre: The making of I’m Still Here! Nursing Science Quarterly, 19, 198-206.

Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)

For information on the DVD version and teaching-learning guide:

www.marep.uwaterloo.ca

For information about the study: sldupuis@uwaterloo.ca or jonasimp@yorku.ca