Table 1.

Characteristics of studies and reports included in the synthesis.

Reference	Study Design (N)	Intervention (delivered by)	Setting	Level of impairment
Adams, M. and Cotter, M. (2011).	This report summarises the activities of 66 museums inspired by MoMA. These varied in content but mainly involved looking at art (93%); discussing art (93%); socialising before (78%); touching objects (53%); making art (44%).No demographic details reported.	Art viewing. Delivered by gallery and museum staff.	Museum and galleries	Majority targeting mild to moderate
Brownell, C. A. (2008).	Quasi-experimental (active control and intervention group); behavioural. Data collected at 4 x monthly time points. Post intervention focus group with students.Page 7 says n = 37; page 8 says n = 40 participants (36 female, 4 male). Author does not say how many did all 4 sessions.	Art making. 1 x 45 mins x 4 sessions.Delivered by students the high school; art teacher support. Care home recreational therapist and 1-2 care assistants attended the art sessions.	Residential care home (dining room)	Moderate to severe
Burnside, L.D., Knecht, M. J., Hopley, E. K., (2017).	Qualitative grounded theory analysis of post-intervention interviews.N = 21 carers and N = 13 people with dementia (mean age=76, 48% male; 48% post graduate; one African American dyad, the rest were white).	Art viewing and making programme (7 gallery tours and three art making classes). Delivered by museum educator and artist trained in working with people living with dementia.	Museum	Early stage(CDR scores 0.5 – 2.0)
Byrne, L. and MacKinlay, E. (2012).	Qualitative/exploratory; RA observation journal; post session discussion between RA and facilitator; participants self-ratings of emotions (not presented)N = 11 PWD; no further details reported.	Art making; 1 hour per week for 18 weeksDelivered by chaplains or pastoral carers.	Residential care facility	Not reported (suggests moderate to severe)
Camic, P., Tischler, V. and Pearman, C. H. (2014).	Mixed methods exploratory pre and post design with quantitative outcome measures and semi-structured interviews. N = 24 dyads; PWD age between 58-94; m = 78.3. 17 white/British; 4 white/European; 2 British Asian; 1 black British. No information on SES.	Viewing and making art; 2 hours per week for 8 weeks. Delivered by a professional art educator and an experienced artist.	Gallery	Mild to moderate (MMSE scores reported)
Camic, P., Baker, E. and Tischler, V. (2015).	This is another interpretation of the data in Camic et al (2014). It uses grounded theory methodology to theorize how gallery-based interventions affect people with dementia and those who care for them.	As above	As above	As above
Eekelaar, C., Camic, P. M., & Springham, N. (2012).	Exploratory pre and post mixed methods; participants audio recorded at the gallery sessions, pre and post interviews’;N = 6 carer; N = 6 people with dementia - 3 male and 3 female); mean age 78.67 (68-91).	Viewing and making art; 1 x 90 minute session per week for 3 weeks. Delivered by a gallery educator with knowledge of the gallery’s collections, and an experienced art therapist.	Gallery	Mild to moderate MMSE from 18-24 (M=21.67).
Flatt, J. D., Liptak, A., Oakley, M. A., Gogan, J., Varner, T., & Lingler, J. H. (2015).	Exploratory; cross-sectional satisfaction survey, qualitative focus group.N = 10; 50% female, 7 caucasian and 3 African American.	Viewing and making art; 1 x 3 hour session of art viewing and making (they delivered 4 sessions in total). Delivered by trained facilitators from the museum	Art museum/gallery	Early stage AD or related cognitive disorders (data not reported)
Gould, V. F. (2013).	Service evaluation of different art projects. Each project hosted an average of 6 people with dementia and 6 carers. Average age=77 (66-91). For the visual arts aspect N = 42 PWD; N = 39 carers. 55% female.	7 visual arts projects, ranging from 3-10 weeks duration and 40 mins to half day. Delivered by professional artists with volunteers supporting.	Museums and galleries.	81% were early stage (the target of the project)
Gregory and Windle (2013).	Evaluation of a 10 week programme of art sessions. Article focusses on the intergenerational aspect.N = 5 people with dementia, 3 female/5 males; N = 15 children age 9-10 years).	Art viewing and making; 2 hours per week for 10 weeks (article based on one session).	Art gallery/craft centre	Mild to moderate
Gross, S. M., Danilova, D., Vandehey, M. and George M. Diekhoff. (2013).	Within subjects repeated measures design, observing well-being at the beginning, middle and end of a 12-week programme compared to usual activityN = 76; majority (63) females; mean age =84.28; 43% completed high school, 30% had some college education; 26% missing data.	Art making; 12 x 1 hour sessions per week. Delivered by professional artists.	Residential care setting	Moderate to severe
Hazzan, A. A., Humphrey, J., Kilgour-Walsh, L., et al. (2016).	Qualitative pilot study. Coding of comments made during observation of art sessions and questionnaires from carers.N = 8 men, varying education levels.	Art viewing and art making; 27 x weekly 2 hour sessions. Delivered by gallery staff.	Hospital in-patients.	Moderate to severe
Johnson, J., Culverwell, A., Hulbert, S., Robertson, M., Camic. P. (2017).	A one-time crossover design with 3 conditions; 1) museum object handling 2) a refreshment break 3) art viewing in small groups. Visual analogue scales were used to rate subjective wellbeing pre and post each activity.N = 36 with dementia (25 male/11 female; mean age=74, range 58-85).N = 30 carers; (4 male/26 female; mean age=66, range 48-83)	Art viewing and object handling with a tea break. A one-time activity, delivered 11 times (not repeated measures). Delivered by a ‘facilitator’ (no details on their characteristics).	Gallery	Mild to moderate (data not reported, but participants recruited from a post-diagnosis NHS memory clinic group).
Kinney, J. M., & Rentz, C. A. (2005).	Within subjects repeated measures design with a comparison condition.N = 12 as 6 from each setting; 5 men and 7 women, age range from 65-85; 5 African American, 7 white; equal number of blue collar workers and professionals (p.223).	Art Making; 5 x 1 hour sessions per week. Delivered by a ‘facilitator’ (no details on their characteristics).	2 adult day centres (1 in the community, 1 in a retirement complex).	No scores reported (paper suggests mild to moderate)
MacPherson, S., Bird, M., Anderson, K., Davis, T., & Blair, A. (2009).	Mixed methods; observation at two time points, qualitative post programme focus groups.N = 15 people with dementia as 7 still living at home mean age=70.8 (56-80); 8 living in residential care mean age =86.6 (80-93).	Art viewing; 45 mins -1 hour session per week x 6 weeks. Delivered by gallery staff (described as ‘educators’).	Gallery	CDR scores of mild, moderate and severe
Malin, E. (2011).	Mixed-methods evaluation of engage Cymru galleries programme from 4 different areas in Wales (observation, photographs, interviews).N = 44	Art viewing and making; up to 10 sessions as 2 hours per week. Delivered by professional artists.	Community and gallery	Not reported, suggest mild/early stage.
Mittleman, M. and Epstein, C. (2009).	Mixed methods evaluation of the Meet Me at MoMA gallery programme; Pre and post session self-rating scales of family relationships, self-esteem and Quality of life; a smiley faces assessment scale; artist observations; take-home evaluation.N = 37 people with dementia and N = 37 carers. Majority highly educated, 67.6% female.	Art viewing; 2 x weekly sessions of 1.5 hours, 1 session 3 months later. Delivered by gallery staff.	Museum of Modern Art	Early stage
Mangione, G. (2013).	Design: ethnographic framework (informal conversations; meetings, formal observations of the museum activities) and in-depth interviews.N = 35 as 13 museum personnel; 5 external personnel; 7 carergiver interviews, and 5 carer/patient dyads; no further demographics.	Art viewing (no details on how long this was delivered for the purpose of this paper). Delivered by museum art educators.	Art museum	No demographic details are reported.
Rentz, C. A. (2002).	Behavioural observation of well-being as 1 session in each setting.N = 41.	Art making; 1 session in each setting. Delivered by skilled facilitators (no details on their characteristics).	4 adults day programmes, 1 assisted living site, 1 day centre	Not reported – paper suggests diagnosis of dementia
Roe, B., McCormick, S., Lucas, T., Gallagher, W., Win, A., & Elkin, S. (2016)	Service evaluation; non-participant observation, field notes, one-month post group interview with gallery and museum staff and a supported living project worker.N = 9 care-home residents and n = 8 supported living residents; n = 11 carers.	A mixture of different activities delivered as art viewing and/or making; 6 x 2 hour sessions (1 per month over 6 months). Delivered by gallery staff and artists.	Museum	Not reported.
Sauer, P. E., Fopma-Loy, J., Kinney, J., & Lokon, E. (2016).	Within-subjects repeated measures observation of well-being with comparison condition (N = 38).	Viewing and making; 60 min weekly art sessions for 12 weeks. Delivered by trained student volunteers.	Not described (suggest care facility)	Not reported (suggest moderate to severe)
Ullán, A. M., Belver, M. H., Badía, M., Moreno, C., Garrido, E., Gómez-Isla, J., Tejedor, L. (2013).	Qualitative exploration (participant observation; post session assessment by the educators; focus groups with participants and artists; focus group with professional caregiversN = 21; 13 female age between 67-93.	Art viewing and making; as 5 workshops delivered over a 4 month period. The workshops were carried out in one or two sessions with a variable duration between 60 and 90 minutes (the maximum number of sessions was 22). No information about how many times the person was expected to attend. Delivered by artistic educators.	State day centre (Spain)	Mild to moderate (MMSE 12-27).
Young, R., Tischler, V., Hulbert, S., & Camic, P. M. (2015).	Analysis of verbal interactions, audio-recorded during two, 8-week interventions.N = 13; 11 females age range from 60-94.	Viewing and making; 8 x 2 hours per week. Delivered by an artist educator.	Gallery	No scores reported (suggests mild to moderate)