Event Co-presenters:

Dr Ayokunmi Ojebode PhD, FHEA

Christelle Tulia and Madeleine Laini, Co-Directors of Kiyana Wraps

- Introduction to Kiyana Wraps

- Demonstrations on how to style head-tie/headwrap (Madeleine Laini)

Visit the Kiyana Wraps website.

Connect with Kiyana Wraps on Instagram.

About the study:

Existing scholarship on dementia studies indicates a dearth of more inclusive approaches and interventions adapted to best support diverse ethnic communities with healthcare challenges in the United Kingdom. There is evidence that over 25,000 people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities (henceforth ethnic communities) are living with Dementia in the UK African-Caribbean population (House of Commons, 2013). Tuerk and Sauer (2015) speculate that the number of people with dementia in Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities will increase by 7-fold as against the assumed doubling when compared with the Indigenous White population by 2025. Therefore, this project responds to the urgent need for evidence-based, culture-appropriate and adapted interventions for people with dementia and carers from UK’s ethnic communities.

This study will investigate an exquisite London-made hair cover/headgear (Kiyana wraps) as a potential therapeutic source and social and pleasurable activity for people with dementia. The Kiyana wrap resonates deeply with the cultural, historical, religious and personal identities of especially people with dementia from the UK’s ethnic communities. The Alzheimer’s Association (2024) posits that choosing appropriate clothing can promote positive self-esteem and dignity in people with dementia. Likewise, the Alzheimer's Society (2021) confirms that personal grooming, like manicures or pedicures, massage, or hair appointments, is therapeutic and could improve the social well-being of people with dementia.

Practically, people with dementia wear clothing to show affiliation, communication, and independence and for physical and psychological comfort. Some Afro-Caribbean cultures and religions promote hygiene and standards among their adherents, such as carrying or wearing peculiar accessories or specific garments covering the head or body (Truswell, 2013). Notably, Keens-Betts (2015) comments that her mother, diagnosed with dementia, found the Kiyana wraps helpful for her aesthetics, grooming, and self-esteem. Donning the headgear and wraps closely linked to elegant African Queens by an older woman with dementia could boost their morale and social status, giving them the feeling of ‘tallness and tidiness.’ The Kiyana wrap is summer-friendly and could prevent patients from extreme colds, viral infections, and end-of-life symptoms, as it will help slow the patient's facial deterioration and create more opportunities for social engagement.

This study is a novel art-based intervention to foreground adaptive clothing as a therapeutic and mnemonic source and a social history of people with dementia and carers in the UK’s ethnic communities.

About Kiyana Wraps:

Kiyana Wraps is an award-winning London-based hair accessories brand that specialises in timeless and chic hair wraps, turbans and headwear for modern women. 'Kiyana' - pronounced ‘kee-ya-nah’, means 'beautiful' in Swahili. Since its conception in 2011, Kiyana Wraps has been a proud advocate for female empowerment, making women look good and feel good (we’ve worked with women suffering from dementia, alopecia/ hair loss and those undergoing chemotherapy - providing great hair wraps and headdresses as alternative to wigs), we also were one of the panelists of the Red Cross’s Tiffany Circle in 2018, where we joined-in further on the conversation.

Kiyana Wraps has been featured in Vogue, Schon magazine, Aljazeera, Huff Post and the BBC to name the few. As a brand Kiyana Wraps has an international reach and appeal (clients based in United States, Korea, Australia, China, Dubai, Russia, Kuwait).

Learn more about the study and Kiyana Wraps during the online Centre for Demenita seminar on Wednesday 23rd October. 

Read the IMH blog post, Dementia and Poetry: Narratives of Wards and Words, Ayokunmi wrote back in August.

Registration

To register your attendance, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 9am Tuesday 22^nd October.