Movies could help facilitate communication and promote social engagement in people with dementia, ongoing research at the University of Montreal suggests. Researchers from the university's School of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and the Institute of Geriatrics Research Centre are investigating whether audiovisual content can improve communication and social connection for older adults living with dementia.

As part of her PhD research project, Barbara Delacourt, a recipient of an Alzheimer Society Doctoral Award, is participating in a project, dubbed Projet Lumière, which grew out of a collaboration between the speech and audiology lab and cinEXmedia, the university's art history and film studies lab.

“Family and even caregivers are often at a loss" when people with dementia try to communicate with them, Delacourt said. "But when we experience and share positive emotions, a communication loop is created, even without words—through a glance, a smile, holding hands. It’s a way of being together, of sharing a moment.”

One way to arouse positive emotions is to show entertaining audiovisual content: film clips, documentaries, musicals, videos with children or animals, she suggested.

Delacourt is currently collecting data at a long-term care facility. Residents watch videos with a caregiver or loved one and Delacourt correlates the video content with verbal and nonverbal communication, particularly facial expressions, and psychophysiological responses associated with empathy.

“The aim is to study the effects of co-viewing on communication between the pair and to determine what type of audiovisual content delivers the desired effects,” she explained. Ultimately, the research aims to shed light on how communication works in people living with dementia and help improve quality of life for them and their caregivers.

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