Bognor Regis Home Creates Dementia Friendly Rendition of Wizard of Oz Panto

A Bognor Regis home brought the panto to their residents and staff with a dementia friendly rendition of The Wizard of Oz.

Joanne Mitchell, activity coordinator at MHA Greenways created, directed and was also a member of the cast of the pantomime, which went down a treat with the audience.

The cast was made up of staff members as well several residents, with Joanne carefully scripting the panto which short lines to allow residents living with dementia fulfil their roles.

The home’s dining room was converted into a stage, and the audience was made up of a mixture of residents and their family members.

MHA Greenways provides residential and residential dementia care for our 44 residents.

Speaking after the performance Joanne said: “Everyone had a great time, and it was lovely to see our residents having so much fun.

“I must have watched the movie about half a dozen times, to get a grasp of the lines.

“I wanted to make the pantomime as inclusive as possible so that’s where the idea of making it dementia friendly came in.

“Our residents were brilliant in remembering their lines and all of them deserve a lot of credit.

“I made sure to include some humour to keep guests entertained.

“The audience was great on the day, the performances of both the residents and staff kept them engaged and you could see how much they were enjoying themselves.

“We received some lovely feedback from the audience and from loved ones on the home’s Facebook page.

“Other MHA homes have also been inspired by this, and I do feel that other homes will attempt something like this going forward.”