Reflections: Alzheimer’s Program

Reflections: The Nasher Museum Alzheimer’s Program provides engaging and interactive museum tours to visitors with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia, their families, and their care partners. Reflections tours include guided discussions through the galleries, as well as live musical performances or hands-on art experiences. These special tours offer people who live with memory loss and their families the opportunity to enjoy art in the moment and to engage with the current exhibitions using multiple senses. Tours are inspired by the Meet Me at MoMA model.

It can be difficult for individuals with Alzheimer’s to find welcoming communities where they can engage and socialize without the fear of judgement or the stress of a strange situation. Programs like Reflections offer spaces where individuals with dementia can comfortably discuss new ideas and enjoy spending time with others.

For more information about Reflections Program tours, please contact Jessica Ruhle at reflections@duke.edu.

The Reflections Program began in 2014, with Nasher Museum educators offering tours in partnership with the Duke Family Support Program. Tours were specifically designed for individuals in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Reflections tours expanded in the summer of 2015 to include individuals with mid- and late-stage Alzheimer’s disease. In April of 2017, Reflections tours were opened to the general public. These public tours are now held on the fourth Tuesday of each month, and individuals in early and mid-stages of Alzheimer’s disease are invited to participate.

Between July 2014 and June 2018, over 2,000 individuals with dementia and their care partners toured the Nasher Museum with the Reflections Program. One hundred and fifty five tours were led by thirteen Gallery Guides (seven community members and six Duke undergraduate, graduate, or medical students). By 2016, the Nasher established close partnerships with Duke Family Support Services and Eno Pointe Assisted Living.

In April of 2017, the Reflections Program hit a new milestone as tours were opened to the public, not only visitors with organized groups.

Reflections: The Nasher Museum Alzheimer’s Program is made possible by Stefanie and Doug Kahn in honor of their fathers, Donald Schneider and Mike Kahn, and the Carlyle Adams Foundation.

For information about supporting the Reflections Program, please contact Tamara Brothers at tamara.brothers@duke.edu or call at (919) 668-4063.