"You come because it’s an interesting place” : the impact of attending a heritage programme on the well-being of people living with dementia and their care partners

Promoting access to heritage settings has been acknowledged as a wayto promote wellbeing in the UK for people living with dementia and theircare partners. Yet there is a lack of information available internationallyon the contribution of heritage sites to promote wellbeing and socialinclusion for those living with dementia. This paper addresses this gap byreporting on the impact for 48 people of participating in the ‘SensoryPalaces’ (SP) programme run by Historic Royal Palaces at Hampton Courtand Kew Palaces in the UK. Two primary data sources were used; postsession interviews involving 30 participants (the person living withdementia and/or their care partners), and 131 sets of self-complete preand post session mood questionnaires administered directly before andafter SP session attendance. Analysis of the data sets is presented underthree themes: Enjoyment and Engagement; Connecting and Learningand Place, Space and Time. The findings demonstrate participantshighly valued the heritage sessions and reported positively on the impactthis had for their individual wellbeing and their relationships with oneanother. This paper highlights the opportunity for heritage sites tocontribute to promoting wellbeing for people living with dementia