title: Psychological effects of poetry workshops with people with early stage dementia: an exploratory study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of writing poetry on psychological functioning in people with early stage dementia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A series of poetry writing workshops was conducted with four women, at the end of which a one-on-one short structured interview was conducted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All of the women said that they benefited from the workshops, but their experiences differed greatly. Themes included competence and self-efficacy, personal growth, wanting to contribute and poetry writing as a way of coping with the progression of the condition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Creative activities such as writing poetry hold promise for enhancing the quality of life of people with dementia.
authors.affiliation: University of South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Ioana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Petrescu
authors.forename: Kit
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: MacFarlane
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ranzijn
mesh_terms: D003405:Creativity; D003704:Dementia / Q000628:therapy*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011037:Poetry as Topic; D011788:Quality of Life; D057173:Recreation Therapy
keywords: creativity; dementia; poetry as topic; qualitative research