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Artists in Residence
The artist residency project "Artists in Residence" is an offer for residents of institutions for the elderly, in which artists reside and work in the institution for a period of one week. The project offers residents the opportunity to do something individually meaningful in the spirit of "healthy aging" and thus to promote their quality of life. Integration as well as cultural and social participation of people in old age are promoted by the project. The perception of the 'here and now' in the sense of an expansion of the living environment, the experience of gratitude, the job satisfaction of caregivers and intergenerational relationships are examined.
Project status: ongoing
Contact: Dr. Sandra Oppikofer
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Music Circles
The music intervention "Music Circles" connects people with dementia, employees of old-age and care institutions as well as professional musicians via the medium of musical improvisation in a music circle in order to meet each other at eye level and to communicate with each other. The aim of the study is to stabilize the quality of life of people with dementia by utilizing creative potential, building relationships between residents and staff, and promoting communication. It is also intended to increase the job satisfaction of staff and to promote the knowledge and experience of professional musicians with people with dementia.
Project status: ongoing
Contact: Dr. Sandra Oppikofer
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Music mirrors
This research project investigates the feasibility and effectiveness of so-called «music mirrors» for people with dementia. Music mirrors contain and preserve a list of personally relevant life events combined with fitting sounds and pieces of music. Our intervention study uses this digital resource to help maintain the communication with people suffering from dementia, which becomes increasingly restricted over the course of cognitive decline.
Project status: completed in 2021
Contact: Dr. Sandra Oppikofer
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Pain study
This intervention study aims to reduce pain symptoms and increase the well-being of people suffering from chronic pain and depressive mood. Chronic pain is defined as a bio-psycho-social phenomenon that affects multiple life areas (body, psyche, family, workplace, etc.). Therefore, the implementation of individual goals can become limited over the course of chronic pain conditions, which can in turn lead to a decrease in well-being or even to a state of depressive mood. The goal of our study is to alleviate pain symptoms and states of depressive mood through the application of the therapeutic technic of the laying on of hands to help people with chronic pain conditions to implement their individual goals.
Project status: completed in 2018
Contact: Dr. Sandra Oppikofer
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Comprehensive retirement work
This project aims to improve synergies within the different work practices concerning the subject of old age in the community of Horgen, so these services can be used in an easier and more comprehensive way. Specifically, we want to help organize the correspondent interfaces and optimize the coordination of work sequences of the different parties involved. We aim to create a more comprehensive network in respect of the overall context of demographic aging. Involved in this project are agents of the public hand and private as well as civic stakeholders.
Project status: completed in 2018
Contact: Dr. Sandra Oppikofer
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Comfort enhancement for residents in long-term care institutions
People in need of long-term care often feel isolated, which can result in serious health problems. If they also experience depressive mood, which in turn can lead to an enhanced perception of pain, the well-being of these people becomes substantially impaired. Our project aims to alleviate this negative development through the application of the therapeutic technique of the laying on of hands. This technique constitutes a special type of social attention, whose positive effect hasn’t been investigated in the field of long-term care before. However, the literature has confirmed several times that social contacts, which are characterized by compassion and affection, positively affect physical and mental well-being.
Project status: completed in 2017
Contact: Dr. Sandra Oppikofer
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«Awakened Art Stories»
This project aims to animate people suffering from dementia to create stories in a group setting on the basis of ambiguous illustrations in art museums. This process is supported by a moderator asking open and stimulating questions. Thereby, participants receive the possibility to experience intellectual stimulation and social interactions in a protected environment and to activate their remaining competencies and resources.
Project status: completed in 2017
Contact: Dr. Sandra Oppikofer and Susanne Nieke
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GiM – Generations in Museums
At GiM-events, people of different generations are invited to develop unique stories on the basis of museum exhibits with the help of a cultural mediator. In this context, an explorative-qualitative pilot study is conducted aiming at the optimization of these events. Additionally, it should be tested, which effects GiM-events have in regard to (a) the participants of different generations and (b) to the cultural mediators themselves.
Project status: completed 2015
Contact: Dr. Sandra Oppikofer
