Our participants had the pleasure of assisting the third workshop Art and Culture as Therapy that took place in the School of Hotel Management in Murcia. They were all patients at the Dementia Unit at the Hospital Virgen de la Arrixaca and diagnosed with Alzheimer’s with GDS 4.
The famous pastry chef, Paco Torreblanca opened the first session. He offered the patients to try different flavours and used the most pure and traditional methods in their elaboration, such as in meringues of different kinds. For the group members, these played a role in evoking memories of the past. The patients sat close to their family members in the front row to follow closely how the pastry chef elaborated the desserts. During the process, Paco Torreblanca commented on every ingredient he was using and the patients and family members responded with memories associated to the fragrances and flavours. Some remembered cakes and desserts from their childhood: IPG remembered the bakery she had run and APC maintained a conversation with Paco Torreblanca about Angel Hair Squash and about its required temperature when making this. This patient had run a factory of tinned vegetables and knew the necessary mechanisms to elaborate it, cooking times and other related details.
The second session was carried out in the kitchen classroom at the school. Two students accompanied each patient, they would help the patient to elaborate on a traditional dessert and support their memory skills. We limited ourselves to be mere observers who registered the pattern of behaviour, level of attention and emotional reaction. All the information was noted on an evaluation form that includes scale items that measure already mentioned factors. Most of the patients chose rice pudding, although the majority did not remember the recipe, left out ingredients or simply had never made it, as in the case of the male participants. DRH preferred to do her own recipe of carrot doughnuts and the truth is, they turned out to be delicious. The patients used the kitchen utensils quite well. They helped to stir the rice to prevent it burning. The women were the ones who enjoyed the most and they gave the rice pudding a personal touch. During the session we did not observe any behaviour problems. In general, everyone was attentive during the process, motivated during the elaboration and expressed happiness at the end of the day.
The third session followed the same structure as the previous one. Each patient chose to do his/her favourite dessert. In the case of the men, they allowed themselves to be guided, to a certain extent, by the students. ESR made a chocolate sponge cake, which was enjoyed greatly by her daughter and grandchildren, while ICG, FSV and APC made sponge cakes without chocolate. As mentioned above, the men limited themselves to help with the preparation of the desserts, adding in the ingredients, kneading the dough, while ICG made her own sponge cake just as she continues to do at home.
Some cakes got stuck in the tin but in general they all turned out really well. MBP made filled biscuits. It is a recipe she does often and all her family the biscuits very much. She explained its process well. IPG made Calatrava bread pudding. Here, the students had to help in identifying the ingredients and in the elaboration of the dessert. She neither remembered the ingredients nor how to make it. PAP’s students made wonderful muffins with him. At every stage of the process, they asked him to help by adding the ingredients. Meanwhile, they explained the different stages of making the muffins. DRH prepared some excellent “paparajotes”, a typical dessert from Murcia made of lemon leaves. She put all the ingredients needed, as well as those she saw on the table. Finally, JMG showed us how to make some delicious and homemade doughnuts. It was a breakfast that she used to prepare for her children every Sunday before going to the mass.
We tried all the desserts. We also kept a piece of each dessert for the following session, which was when the tasting would take place. During this session, no behaviour problems were observed. For some participants, the level of attention dropped, especially for those were tired. The emotions were positive at the end of the session.
In the following session (fourth), we had the pleasure of collaborating with Paco Torreblanca’s older son, David. He tried the desserts, one by one, which had been previously elaborated by the patients and the students. The majority had been made with ingredients from the region: lemon sponge cake, etc.
The patients explained in turn to David how they had made them the cakes, what ingredients they used, etc. Some of them needed assistance from the students to explain the process better and to relate anecdotes from their lives to the desserts. Later, David took a piece of the desserts with him. With his team at their bakery, Totel, he was to elaborate Murcia Tart that would include all the flavours that the patients had recovered.
No behaviour problems were observed. They maintained their attention during the whole session and, generally, expressed positive emotions.
In the last session we returned to the kitchen working space. David Torreblanca elaborated Murcia Tart and was assisted by the patients of the workshop. The intention was to have every one of them helping in its making and to participate in the final result. The idea of its appearance and ingredients had already been decided upon earlier, this was due to limitation of time. They all took on different tasks: putting in the filling, flattening out the lemon cream, cutting the fruits that later they decorated the cake with… They carried on in that way until it was ready. There it was! The awaited Murcia Tart was born.
In this session, we detected some differences between the subjects. In general, the women were more motivation and participated better. Furthermore, we observed behaviour problems in some patients who had demonstrated a loss of attention capacity. This was described by what we considered unusual and repetitive behaviour such as, taking the apron off again and again during the session and then look for it later. On the emotional level, the response was always positive.
In general, this workshop has been very positive, the sign of this was the happiness of those who attended it, the interest they expressed by responding to the assignments of the sessions and the great motivation of each of the participants. Although everyone was diagnosed with Alzheimers GDS 4, the patients with more depleted functional capacities required more help from the students. They participated less and showed less initiative than those who were more independent carrying out activities of daily life.
Begoña Martínez Herrada and Blanca García Torres
Dementia Unit in the University Hospital Virgen de la Arrixaca in Murcia
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