Results That Matter
Clinical Research
Since launching MindArt in 2018, we have conducted multiple clinical trials in Aotearoa New Zealand and France, with our programme and resources now successfully implemented across diverse settings in both countries.
Read what our and other clinical researchers, occupational therapists, dementia advisors, health professionals and speech-language therapists have to say about our results and how they are using MindArt today.
Dr. Susan Gee
LEAD RESEARCHER, MINDART
Psychiatry of Older Age Academic Unit at Health NZ I Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Canterbury
“MindArt delivers significant stress reduction for people living with dementia. Research in France demonstrated substantial decreases in both stress and anxiety, with benefits maintained over time. Our New Zealand randomised trial also found significant stress reduction for people living with dementia—measurably better than social engagement alone.”
“MindArt can hold attention and create meaningful experiences for people living with dementia, with 96% engagement through the session in observations. Participants describe feeling "relaxed," "calm," and "absorbed" during sessions. Some families noted continued peaceful engagement in art at home. MinDArT makes stress reduction accessible through art—no meditation experience required.”
Christelle Filleau
PSYCHOLOGIST SPECIALIZING IN NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
Rehabilitation, Autonomy and Aging Unit, Memory Resource and Research Center, Claude Pompidou Institute, Nice, France
“MinDArT is a feasible and accessible intervention for people living with stroke and post-stroke aphasia, with particular benefits for self-esteem and perceived stress”.
“I have seen such a change in the participants from the start to the end of MinDArT. Now I see an ability for the participants to focus and relax with ease, and let themselves get lost in their art, without the stress of trying to make something look ‘perfect’. Everyone tells me how much they enjoy the sessions, and how grateful they are to be a part of the MinDArT space , it is a calm relaxing space for them, where I actively work on creating a space that is wholly accessible to them, without them having other miss out on any of the opportunities that MinDArT offers. I watch them enter each session excited to be there, and get to the end and not want to leave, I have also watch so many new relationships establish, and connections being built that I believe will last outside the programme as well. It has truly been a wonderful experience getting to provide an accessible relaxing space for each member of MinDArT.”
“Mindart helps support cognitive and emotional abilities, reduce anxiety and promote non-verbal communication for patients with neurodegenerative disease.”
“Mindart provides caregivers with a space for emotional respite and strengthens the emotional bond through a shared experience, without performance pressure”.
“MindArt has proven to be a powerful complementary tool in supporting people living with neurodegenerative diseases and their supporters. It works on a sensory, emotional, and relational level, promoting overall well-being. MindArt helps restore presence in the moment, where illness tends to erase time, and preserves the human dimension of the caregiving relationship.”
Nikita Smith
SPEECH-LANGUAGE THERAPIST
Health Research Council Stroke Survivors Study
Te Whatu Ora South Canterbury, Aotearoa New Zealand
Read these publications:
Explore these videos
