How a theatre ensemble helps people with dementia

An Oakland nonprofit that uses art for therapy has a startling track record for helping developmentally disabled adults become prolific—and profitable—artists.

More than five million Americans have Alzheimer’s or similar illnesses, and that number is growing as the population ages - without any immediate prospect of a cure, advocacy groups have begun promoting ways to offer people with dementia a comfortable decline instead of imposing on them a medical model of care, which seeks to defer death through escalating interventions. An Arizona nursing home offers new ways to care for people with dementia.

Childhood trauma such as abuse, neighborhood violence or the death of a parent has been found to lead to dire health and social problems later in life. How can communities intervene to spare future generations the same pain and illness? Special correspondent Sarah Varney reports in collaboration with Kaiser Health News on how the city of Memphis, Tennessee, is tackling the problem.

Many medical students are intimidated by the challenge of having to gather accurate histories and establish connections with patients with dementia. A non-profit, Arts and Minds, is helping students get more comfortable by connecting them with patients outside of the clinic through museum visits.

What can you do to enjoy time with Alzheimer’s patients? A suburb near San Diego has recently opened a new town square with architecture designed to look like it is from the 1950s. The space offers aging baby boomers with dementia or Alzheimer’s a place to enjoy and interact with nostalgia.

An ensemble of New York Police Department officers and members of the public are participating in a theater program designed to bring together the opposite sides of the nationwide debate on interactions between police and minority communities.

Uganda has some of the highest fertility and HIV prevalence rates in the world. Yet the government has banned comprehensive sexuality education in schools, and parents feel uncomfortable talking about the taboo subject. So Chicken & Chips, a television show about puppets, was created to educate the country’s young people about sexual and reproductive health.

The refugee crisis in Syria is one of modern society's greatest diasporas. Syria's refugee children are not a lost generation, but the country's next generation, according to volunteers who want to prepare them for the future.

Some communities in Malawi are beginning to fight child marriage their own way—with music, dance, and a few tears, using theater to motivate cultural change.

Game inventors have created a new game to help students who suffer from ADHD and other mental problems develop and stimulate their brains in a safer, more targeted way than normal medicines.