‘The stigma attached isn’t true of real life’: Challenging public perception of dementia through a participatory approach involving people with dementia (Innovative Practice)

This paper discusses the potential impact of viewing public performances of an orchestra comprising people with dementia, family members, student volunteers and professional symphony orchestra members in contributing to challenging negative perceptions of dementia. Negative perceptions of dementia abound despite recent policy attempts to challenge the stigma associated with the condition. This paper reports on the findings from the performance …