Date of Graduation
5-2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Social Work
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
School of Social Work
Advisor/Mentor
Ferguson, Alishia
Committee Member/Reader
Freund, Joel
Committee Member/Second Reader
Rand, April
Committee Member/Third Reader
Stauss, Kim
Abstract
The World Health Organization estimated that 47.5 million people across the globe were living with dementia in 2015, and this number is expected to increase and eventually double by 2030. The cost of caregiving for someone who has dementia is substantial, with estimated federal costs fluctuating between 157 billion and 215 billion dollars annually. Sixty percent of caregivers rate the emotional strain of caregiving to be “high to extremely high”, and 40% of caregivers are diagnosed with depression. It is therefore important to provide support not only for those persons with dementia, but also for their caregivers in order to reduce emotional distress. Art therapy has been recognized as a profession since the mid-1900s, and since then has been used with various populations, including older adults with dementia, in order to improve quality of life. The study in this thesis was designed to explore the effects that art therapy can have on older adults with dementia and their spousal caregivers after they complete a two-week therapeutic art group. We hypothesized that art therapy would improve communication satisfaction and overall marital satisfaction between the spouses. Unfortunately, the study could not be completed due to lack of participation, but improvements for future research were identified.
Citation
Kubacak, A. G. (2016). Art Therapy and Its Impact upon Marital Communication with Geriatric Adults Suffering from Dementia and Their Spousal Caregivers: An Exploratory Review and Research Study. School of Social Work Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/scwkuht/4
