Here’s a touching new comic you can read for free online: Parables of Care. Creative Responses to Dementia Care, as Told by Carers is now available.
This16-page publication presents true stories of creative responses to dementia care, as told by carers, drawn by Dr Simon Grennan (whose credits include the graphic novel, Disspossession) with Christopher Sperandio, and edited and adapted by Simon, Dr Ernesto Priego (City, University of London, who downthetubes readers will recognise as editor at the Comics Grid) and Dr Peter Wilkins (Douglas College).
It’s a short comic, but there are some lovely one page strips included that will touch your heart, especially if you have had direct experience of, or cared for dementia sufferers. Some won’t make for an easy read, but others offer valuable ideas for coping with stressful situations for both sufferers and carers.
“Research has shown that comics have the potential to have a positive impact on the health and quality of life of people who engage in comics reading and creation,” says Ernesto, “contributing to transform attitudes, awareness and behaviour around illness and contributing to create new opportunities for empowerment and more positive behaviour.
“Parables of Care explores the potential of comics to enhance the impact of dementia care research in particular – and seeks to make a contribution to enhancing the public impact of the best practices in dementia care resulting from City HCID research by exploring and embracing the communicative affordances of graphic storytelling in general and graphic medicine in specific.
“We hope that Parables of Care contributes to enabling stronger links between academia, dementia care practice and comics scholars and practitioners.”
This is a smashing, thought-provoking short read, well worth your coffee or tea break. Check it out.
• Download Parables of Care. Creative Responses to Dementia Care, as Told by Carers as a PDF file, under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, from City Research Online here – there is no need to register, just click on ‘download’ next to the file thumbnail
• If you live in the UK you can request printed copies at no cost here
• Read more about the project here
- About the Author
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News