PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Dement.
Sec. Dementia Care
This article is part of the Research TopicExploring the untapped in dementia researchView all articles
Feeling Safe, Feeling Connected: Aesthetic and Polyvagal Approaches to Dementia Care
Provisionally accepted
- 1The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
- 2Global Brain Health Institute, Dublin, Ireland
- 3NIHR Applied Research Collaboration, Greater Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
- 4Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, United Kingdom
- 5Edge Hill University Faculty of Health Social Care and Medicine, Ormskirk, United Kingdom
- 6Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, The University of Manchester, UK, Manchester, United Kingdom
- 7The University of Manchester School of Arts Languages and Cultures, Manchester, United Kingdom
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This perspective brings together authors from care aesthetics, dementia studies, mental health nursing, and clinical psychology to explore how aesthetics and Polyvagal Theory intersect in dementia care. Across these fields, there is growing recognition that wellbeing is shaped not only by clinical interventions but also by the subtle, embodied cues that create a sense of safety, connection, and belonging for patients. Concepts such as aesthetic care, in-the-moment practices, and everyday aesthetics emphasise how lived experience and wellbeing is grounded in the sensory and relational details of everyday life. In parallel, Polyvagal Theory provides a psychophysiological framework for understanding how people respond to such cues through the process of threat detection, co-regulation, and social engagement. By placing these perspectives side-by-side, we explore the currently untapped benefits of developing a cross disciplinary therapeutic toolkit for clinicians working with people living with dementia. Looking ahead, integrating aesthetics and Polyvagal-informed approaches could reshape dementia care into a practice that values safety, connection, and meaning as core clinical outcomes. Although further research is needed to translate this integrated model into practice, the work of the authorship in both research and clinical practice with people with dementia illustrate that such approaches are already ongoing and can bring tangible benefits for several stakeholders, including people living with dementia.
Keywords: Dementia, aesthetics, polyvagal, neuroaesthetics, care
Received: 29 Oct 2025; Accepted: 08 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Fox, Davies, Dowlen, Keady, Thompson and Watson. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Sarah Fox
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