The Outreach, Recruitment, and Engagement Core of the Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center at Washington University School of Medicine has been delighted to partner with Project Present to provide ongoing improvisation workshops for our two specialty support groups: Patients and Care Partners Affected by Young Onset Dementia, and Care Partners and Participants in AD and Related Dementia Research.

We have enjoyed working with Ann Marie, who brings tireless enthusiasm and a positive attitude to everything she touches. Our group members were thrilled to have the Project Present enrichment opportunities for many reasons: they’ve appreciated the low-pressure and fun opportunity to negotiate communication challenges and explore positive strategies to connect with and empower the person with cognitive decline. They have enjoyed participating in an activity that focuses on the process (and having fun along the way) instead of emphasizing the outcome. And finally, many of the participants welcome the social engagement and the chance to connect with Ann Marie and also fellow group members outside of their monthly support group meetings. We have been so pleased to partner with Project Present, and know that Ann Marie’s work has made a meaningful and dignifying impact in the lives of our families who are affected by dementia and memory loss.

The support group that was organically formed out of the caregiver training is unique because we share the positive response training that you taught us, AND because we have all seen each other be silly and exposed. We started out with a “history” together because we had already shared our challenges in improv class.

The caregiver training equipped me with new and very positive ways to respond to the crazy things that come up while caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s.  By improvising ideas with the group we were forced to be creative and think outside of the box.  And while we did that, we relaxed and had fun.  We let our guard down, which allowed us to open up even more about our challenges.  The chemistry was very much influenced by the nature of the activities that you led us through, and it was all very positive.  Separate from that, the commonalities between improv and caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s are fascinating.  The list of principles that you taught us guide me in my everyday responses to my mother.

The Improv season has been a lot of fun, waking up my imagination. I recommend it to all my friends. – Sandy

The facilitator has such a wonderful calming but upbeat demeanor with the residents. The residents are comfortable coming out of their shell and being silly in the improv skits, knowing they will all roll with whatever said with a warm and positive response. – Crown Center Program Coordinator

The improvisation sessions that include caregivers and loved ones with Alzheimer’s gives us a chance to ENJOY each other!  What a gift THAT is!  It’s the highlight of my time with my mother because it is so fun to see her laugh and to engage as an equal.  When we are trying to come up with ideas in the moment, she’s as sharp as I am!  It is awesome to see.

The best way to learn is through play and Project Present truly exemplifies this concept. Our clients adore using their imagination to plan the most adventurous parties and think it’s such a treat to “take home” the invisible focus ball. Ann Marie’s teachings have been a great asset for all of our clients, but specifically for our friends with Dementia and Developmental Disabilities. They truly feel seen, heard, and empowered; feelings they don’t often experience in their day-to-day lives. Being interviewed for “the news” provides them a spotlight for their personalities to shine and the opportunity to be the stars they are. My clients and I are looking forward to having Ann Marie back soon.

Thanks for the very enthusiastic, informative and thought-provoking presentation. During our post discussion, the staff were very positive about using your strategies, especially the Yes and. Thank you for coming to our facility and sharing your expertise.

Keep up the fantastic work!! Thank you for giving us a fun hour of sharing without judgments and meeting new friends!

When I had the opportunity to attend an Improv Workshop, I was thrilled to participate and learned so much from Ann Marie Mohr and the caregiver participants. I realized that I had been managing incidents and situations better than I thought but I did learn many new skills that have increased my confidence as his caregiver. Some of the incidents that use to stress me out, are now handled with greater ease and have much more positive outcomes by utilizing these new skills. As a whole, the Improv Workshop and ongoing monthly maintenance sessions are of great benefit to the caregivers and their loved ones. I highly recommend that they continue for years to come!

What you are doing is absolutely what is needed. It is the key. You don’t know what this has done for my heart. When I heard my husband laughing, my heart was literally singing. You can’t find something like this {workshop} anywhere.  It is so much fun and so important.

Ann Marie Mohr presented in a course, Complementary Approaches to Healing in Social Work Practice that I team teach every other year in the School of Social Work at Saint Louis University. She introduced improvisation (improv) as a non-pharmacological intervention for healing to the students and the feedback from the students has been very positive. Because I have witnessed how effective Ann Marie’s presentation is in getting the students to approach their work with others in a different way that encourages better relationships between a social worker and their client, I plan to ask her to present each time I teach this course.

I can’t begin to express how much your improv classes have meant to me.  Although my husband still won’t participate, the classes and the interaction with the other caregivers have been invaluable to me.  I had so many questions and really didn’t know where to turn. Just knowing that others are in the same boat and being able to share frustrations with people who understand — no way to describe how much it means.  I truly look forward to the classes and “getting out of my head”!  I hope we will be able to continue and share this experience with others!  

I really think you have something here.  I have several friends who would benefit from getting involved in your program and I hope you are able to expand and serve more families very soon!

Thanks for the very enthusiastic, informative, and thought-provoking presentation. During our post discussion, the staff was very positive about using your strategies, especially the Yes and. Thank you for coming to our facility and sharing your expertise. What you did for the staff, you made it come alive in a different way because of your interactive format. They say it is coming to life when they interact with patients and clients.

But even in this last stage, I use your techniques to communicate with Roz now that she is nonverbal. Mirroring her facial expressions, staring in each other’s eyes are very calming ways of communicating without saying anything.

I think your techniques are on to something big. Thanks for all you do.

Your workshop was, by far, the most meaningful and relevant team building exercise we’ve ever done. The skills we practiced are ones that we can immediately apply in workplace interactions and are also tremendously beneficial as dementia communication skills to cultivate with our amazing caregiving families. And it was just plain fun!!! The laughing muscles in my head were actually sore from so much laughing. Good for the soul and so uplifting!!