Elizabeth Lokon is conducting a teaching project entitled “Using Art to Teach Intergenerational Service Learning for People Living with Dementia.” Universitas Katolik Atma Jaya is hosting the project. Dr. Christiany Suwartono, PhD from the Department of Psychology, and Dr. Kevin Kristian, MD, from the Faculty of Medicine, serve as her counterparts. She will also collaborate with Alzheimer Indonesia (ALZI) under the direction of Michael Maitimoe, MA, the Executive Director of ALZI, and DY Suharya, the founder of ALZI and the regional director of Alzheimer’s Disease International. Elizabeth is a Fulbright US Scholar from March to September of 2023.
Elizabeth’s project is based on her 16-year experience developing an intergenerational service-learning program called Opening Minds through Art (OMA) at Scripps Gerontology Center, Miami University in Ohio. OMA’s mission is to build bridges across age and cognitive barriers through art. OMA pairs students with older adults living with dementia and uses art to improve the older adults’ well-being and to transform the students’ attitudes toward aging and dementia. OMA has been replicated at over 200 sites in North America.
Elizabeth’s goal is to develop OMA as a culturally relevant service-learning component so that it can be incorporated into existing courses or be established as a new extracurricular pilot program that can be incorporated into Atma Jaya students’ service-learning experience. The expected result is an increased awareness of dementia spread more widely throughout local communities and improved relations between the young and old in Indonesia. In collaboration with ALZI, a nationwide implementation of OMA is planned after the initial pilot in Jakarta.
Elizabeth “Like” Lokon is the founder and director of Opening Minds through Art (OMA). As an artist (BA-UC Berkeley, BFA-California College of the Arts), gerontologist (MGS-Miami), and educator (PhD-Miami), she frequently speaks on the intersection of the arts, dementia, and intergenerational service learning. She has presented her work in North America, Europe, and Asia. Elizabeth has published in journals such as the Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, Journal of Applied Gerontology, Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice, Journal for Gerontology and Geriatric Education and Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. She is also a fiber artist.
