COLUMN: The cinemas doing their bit to help end the loneliness of dementia

IMAGINE something as straightforward as going to the cinema turning into something so complicated and stressful that you can’t see straight.

First, there’s the ordeal of getting there. Then, arriving at the cinema, you’re suddenly in a brightly lit foyer, surrounded by people and noise.

You can’t make out the signs, and even if you do they don’t make sense. You can’t tell where the stairs are because they’re not clearly marked, so you’re frightened of putting one foot in front of another in case you fall.

You can’t tell where the windows end and the doors begin, because they’re all glass. Or the doors are a dark colour, like the walls and carpet, which makes you feel disorientated . You don’t understand how the ticket machine works, it’s a jumble of words and buttons, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone around to help.

All this makes you panic - and that’s before you’ve entered the dark auditorium and tried to find your seat.

For someone with dementia, this is the reality of a trip to the cinema. What we take for granted can be a huge ordeal if you have problems with memory loss, spatial awareness, vision, communication and other conditions that people with dementia live with. I know from experience that taking someone with dementia to the cinema, or theatre, can be so stressful you wish you’d never left the house.

Brolly good show: The Alzheimer’s Society in York encouraged people to see the Hollywood classic Singing In The Rain at City Screen in May last year - the cinema’s first dementia-friendly screening

York’s City Screen cinema is part of a nationwide Picturehouse programme of Dementia Friendly screenings. Supported by the BFI and the Alzheimer’s Society, the screenings - on the last Monday of each month in York - provide an enjoyable, inclusive experience in a safe, friendly environment. In Bradford, too, moves are under way to make cinema-going less stressful for people with dementia and their families.

Last week I was invited to a dementia-friendly screening. Open to the general public too, the screenings meet the needs of people with dementia. The cinema lights are left on low, there are no adverts or trailers, and the audience is allowed to move around, talk and sing along to any musical numbers, should they wish.

Refreshments are served before the film, giving people a chance to socialise and familiarise themselves with surroundings, signage is made clearer, and stairs and glass doors are marked, making them more visible.

The film I went to see was romantic comedy Funny Face - musicals are popular, but organisers encourage requests. Chatting to people over coffee and biscuits in the interval - there’s one at every screening - I was heartened by much people were enjoying the experience. “It’s such a long time since we’ve been to the cinema,” said a woman who’d come with her husband, who has dementia. “It’s nice to get out. We’d just have been sat in the house otherwise.”

The region’s Dementia Action Alliance, which encourages organisations and businesses to be dementia-friendly, says a friendly, understanding attitude among people they encounter is the most important thing cited by people with dementia.

With film such a powerful means of connecting with memories, these cinema screenings are a great way of helping people with dementia to continue living well. And it’s a social lifeline for carers, who - as anyone who has cared for a loved one knows - often endure isolation.