How puppets are helping aged care residents stay 'Forever Young'

Part of a show designed by Hobart's Terrapin Puppet Theatre - which produces some of the state's premier puppetry - the marionettes were at the facility for a full-day program.

Called Forever Young, the program is an arts therapy measure designed to entertain but also to address the significant levels of depression in half of older Australian aged care residents.

Programs like it have been a success story of recent years, particularly in the mental health sphere, and they've received significant backing - notably, Australia has its own National Arts and Health Framework to promote making and watching art as a health improving activity.

But Forever Young, which was created in 2022, is an Australian-first for its matching of puppetry and therapy designed through research, and this week, it arrived at Fred French starting with one-on-one interactions.

The performers took puppets to interact with selected residents - including those with progressed dementia - who can't necessarily leave their rooms.

"That part of the show is a real privilege," said Bella Young, one of Forever Young's puppeteers and actors.

"They're intimate and unique, and often the people are open and passionate; you can often see kind of a light bulb go on, or something coming back into their eyes."

Those residents couldn't help smiling, or recalling their past, when the puppets took centre stage in their rooms - something the staff hadn't necessarily seen before.

"It was bringing out a completely different side of them," said Joanna Thompson-Hawes, Fred French Newstead's lifestyle coordinator.

Later in the afternoon, the performers launched into Forever Young's second part: a larger, three-person show.

Dressed in pinstripe suits and with a travelling, Punch and Judy-styled stall, the three performers led a show that stimulated memories of residents with old-world items and old-world events, live music and its encouragement of resident contribution and connection.

The show's props and content were created by Terrapin alongside drama therapist Dannielle Jackson - as well as the University of Tasmania, who evaluated the show's end product.

During its pilot run in 2022 at an aged care facility in Hobart, Terrapin surveyed a number of residents.

More than 90 per cent of residents said they enjoyed the show, and that it helped them be empathetic and connect, even in the face of issues like dementia or even depression.

Most of the participants pointed to the puppets as reminders of their past, helping them remember their own childhood and the emotions associated with it.

Now two years on from its origins - having toured southern Tasmanian and Victorian facilities - the latest Forever Young's tour of 17 northern facilities was another indicator for its creators of its importance.

"Forever Young has been embraced by the community and the aged care sector," said Sam Routledge, Terrapin's artistic director and the show's original director.

Mr Routledge and the Terrapin team hope that embrace will continue, during the rest of its tour at a few more locations in the state until the end of July, and on a potential nationwide tour in the future.