GEOFF BENNETT: The medical community is pursuing a range of treatments aimed at slowing the progression of Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.

Now one leading institution is taking an unconventional approach, one designed to complement more traditional treatments.

Special correspondent Meghan Thompson takes a look for our ongoing series exploring arts and health, part of our Canvas coverage.

TANE DANGER, Mayo Clinic Artist in Residence: Don't catch it.

Don't catch it.

(CHEERING) MEGAN THOMPSON: At the world-renowned Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, a room full of health professionals is cheering on colleagues throwing and dropping imaginary balls.

The game is called Loser Ball.

It all looks pretty silly, but the purpose is serious.

ANGELA LUNDE, Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's Disease Research Center: Dementia requires a new set of communication tools.

TANE DANGER: My very quick definition of improv... MEGAN THOMPSON: Tane Danger, a Minneapolis-based improv artist, is helping teach this workshop on dementia care.

Improvisational theater is often thought of as comedy.

But Danger -- and, yes, that is his real name -- says there's a lot more to it.

TANE DANGER: How to listen to people, how to think on your feet, all of those things are skills that aren't necessarily about being funny, but are about being a good listener and being a good communicator.

ANGELA LUNDE: One of the things about dementia is, it's extraordinarily unpredictable.

One of the things about improv is, it invites unpredictability.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Angela Lunde of Mayo's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center says it can be hard for caregivers, be they clinicians or family members, to know how to relate to a patient whose reality has shifted.

ANGELA LUNDE: Because of this disease and the changes that are going on in the brain, typical ways of interacting and communicating are no longer working.

Enter improv.

Improv helps people to just think differently.

TANE DANGER: You have to learn to be comfortable in things going differently than you thought they were going to go.

We spend our whole lives, somebody throws you a ball, you catch the ball.

That's the right way to do this.

And in this game, we have, like, upended that.

We flipped that and we said, no, the right thing to do in this case is to not catch the ball.

And that's weird.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Danger is known for using improv to take on complicated social, political, and even personal issues like voting... TANE DANGER: What would your ideal end of life be?

MEGAN THOMPSON: ... and end-of-life conversations.

He recently hosted a talk over beers between the mayor of Minneapolis and an adversary on the City Council.

JACOB FREY (D), Mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota: Yes.

TANE DANGER: Yes?

MAN: Yes.

TANE DANGER: Great!

MEGAN THOMPSON: Here in Rochester, he is Mayo's first artist in residence through its Dolores Jean Lavins Center for Humanities in Medicine.

Since the 1980s, the center's mission has been to integrate the arts and humanities into patient care.

DR.

SCOTT BREITINGER, Medical Director: Individuals come from around the world to Mayo Clinic for the way in which we're able to bring cutting-edge clinical innovation.

But equally important is how we care for and rejuvenate the human spirit.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Dr.

Scott Breitinger is the medical director of the Humanities in Medicine program in Rochester.

He's also an accomplished artist himself, and says his drawing and painting go hand in hand with his practice of psychology.

They are both, after all, about interpreting and making meaning of the human experience.

DR.

SCOTT BREITINGER: We put tremendous work into curating the physical environment of Mayo Clinic.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Art is everywhere made by ancient artisans, Mayo's staff and famous artists like Dale Chihuly and Auguste Rodin.

DR.

SCOTT BREITINGER: The works of art are selected to create joy, create hope, create serenity and support.

WOMAN: Hi.

So good to see you.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Patients like heart transplant recipient Meghan Sly get to make art too through Mayo's Arts at the Bedside program.

MEGHAN SLY, Heart Transplant Recipient: Just brings me joy and a bright spot to my day, especially before the transplant, the unknown.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Music also plays an important role.

Mayo is the only medical center in North America with a carillon that chimes a recital every weekday.

And there are regular live concerts open to the public.

Today's performer is LaSonya Natividad, a Mayo nurse practitioner.

MOLLY BEECHER, Registered Nurse: The music is sometimes the best medicine.

It's therapeutic.

It's a good mental break from the stress of work.

JEREMIAH SIMMONS, Licensed Practical Nurse, Mayor Clinic: Like this song here.

(SINGING) JEREMIAH SIMMONS: Just -- it's just -- it feels - - it's a good feeling to have this, truly.

KATIE VAN BUREN, Director for Humanities in Medicine, Mayo Clinic: In a moment of darkness, arts and humanities can provide a light.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Katie Van Buren leads the Humanities in Medicine programs across Mayo's three main campuses in Minnesota, Arizona, and Florida.

She says the majority of this work is funded by private donors, and there's plenty of research on its benefits.

KATIE VAN BUREN: The literature demonstrates for patients, for example, that there are multiple positive impacts.

This includes for stress relief.

This includes for sensation of pain reduction.

It includes emotional support, connection to others.

TANE DANGER: It was fun.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Connection and communication, that's what Tane Danger and Angela Lunde are working on back at the improv workshop.

TANE DANGER: If I don't teach you this, then I lose my improv license.

(LAUGHTER) MEGAN THOMPSON: Explaining how a core tenet of improv, the phrase "Yes, and" could be used with a patient.

TANE DANGER: The first two words each of you will say are yes, and.

WOMAN: Yes, and.

ANGELA LUNDE: In a health care setting with somebody who has dementia, they may say, let me out of here, I don't know you.

And so the health care professional, I think, naturally might say, no, you can't leave.

So,essentially, there's an argument that's pursuing there.

So, yes, and, in this situation may sound something like, yes, Mr.

Richards, I can tell that you're really upset about being here, and know that I am going to do the best that I can to get you out of here as soon as possible.

DR.

JEEVA PALANISAMY, Mayo Clinic Internal Medicine Resident: The kind of biggest takeaway is that we can still find some point of common reality with our patients and validating kind of their feelings and their reality, while also adding to that.

TANE DANGER: You are building on each other's ideas in a very positive way.

The relationships and connections that people have in a health care space are obviously some of the most important, meaningful in somebody's entire life.

And so, if there are ways that the tools that I know about and can share, like, can help build that and can help people do that in an even better way, that is potentially some of the most meaningful work I will get to do in my career.

Oh, wow.

MEGAN THOMPSON: For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Megan Thompson in Rochester, Minnesota.