An Oxfordshire care home is piloting an art therapy scheme to help residents who live with dementia express themselves.

Sanctuary Care’s Watlington & District Care Home has been working with local artist Moira McCarthy since October 2007, encouraging residents to express themselves through the medium of art.

The home - which was built on a community-based model in partnership with Watlington Hospital Charitable Trust and opened by HRH the Duke of Kent in July 2004 - cares for 60 residents, 30 of whom are older people with mental health needs.

The weekly painting and drawing sessions have proved a great success with residents who continue to gain in confidence (repetitive) and develop new skills.

Manager Sue Morley said: “Moira works in small groups and also on a one-to-one basis, where residents can tell her exactly what they want to do. The results are tremendous. Some residents seem like they have spent the day hard at work - they’re often tired but we know they’ve enjoyed it because they have a smile on their face!”

In recent years, studies have shown that art therapy is effective in relieving the symptoms of people with dementia, in particular by encouraging self-expression and combating depression often felt by Alzheimer’s sufferers.

Watlington is the first of Sanctuary’s care homes to employ this technique and it is expected that art therapy sessions will be adopted by Sanctuary’s other homes in due course.