Gary Glazner

Institute of Dementia Arts & Education

In 2014, Glazner founded the Institute of Dementia Arts and Education (IDEA) as a new initiative to use innovative non-pharmacological arts interventions to improve the quality of life of people living with memory loss and the health of their care partners and families.

IDEA will provide training and tools to teach creative aging methods to: artists; family members; healthcare workers; teachers and students of all ages. IDEA will facilitate the training through shared models of best practice. Our mission is open our minds and hearts to the creativity of people navigating memory loss. We challenge ourselves to explore, to create and advance our knowledge of how to best serve each person and their families- today.

Gary Glazner is the founder and Executive Director of the Alzheimer's Poetry Project, (APP). The APP was the recipient of the 2013, Rosalinde Gilbert Innovations in Alzheimer’s Disease Caregiving Legacy Award and the 2012 MetLife Foundation Creativity and Aging in America Leadership Award in the category of Community Engagement. The National Endowment for the Arts listed the APP as a “best practice.” NBC's “Today” show, PBS NewsHour and NPR's “All Things Considered” have featured segments on Glazner’s work. Glazner is the author of 5 books including, Dementia Arts: Celebrating Creativity in Elder Care, 2014, Health Professionals Press. The APP has provided programming in 26 states and internationally in Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Poland and South Korea.