The Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester Elders programme celebrates creativity in later life through a range of different activities for older people, including our innovative Elders Company
Too often birthday cards reflect our fear of loss in the 30+ years, suggesting we ought to feel apologetic, embarrassed even, about leaving those initial decades behind. Enough....
This paper draws on a qualitative study with thirty-three women over the age of 65, participating in weekly creative events in rural England. We explore some of the experiences of ageing which affect women, and the contribution that participatory creative events play in the lives of this group. We find that events provide an escape from routine and a supportive environment in which self-worth is fostered through creating and socialising. The space to make and to reminisce with other women also has a restorative effect which requires regular events if it is to be sustained. Co Authors Emma Wood & Dr Kate Dashper
Medley is a new initiative exploring music, art and nature's impact on wellbeing, initially through a website, blog and forum, and hopefully subsequently through community sessions. Issues facing older people will be a focus. There are three main aims: *To build awareness and evidence of nature, art and music's impacts *To draw together a virtual community to share ideas and support *To create a programme of music, art and nature sessions by local community groups.
Green Candle Dance Company are pleased to announce we will be holding our Moving into Maturity workshops Online this Autumn! Booking is now open for this two day introductory course in leading dance for older people and dance & dementia. Moving into Maturity is an introductory professional development course for people working, or intending to work with older people. Suitable for professional dance artists, health care professionals and students, this course will introduce some of the key skills needed to lead dance sessions, both seated and standing, with older people and people with dementia. Attendees may take part in the two days or join us for one of the days.
Sophie Handler our guest presenter will take us through an exploration of our language of ageing. ‘Over-the-hill’, ‘Active ageing’, ‘getting on’…How do we, typically, talk about ageing? This workshop will encourage us to explore the varied shape of this vocabulary, its different tones and moods - and encourage us to think about the kinds of creative approaches that we might develop to challenge the usual ways in which we talk about ageing.
Rachael Hawkins, Volunteering and Public Engagement Coordinator at Aesop describes how the company's engagement with older and people and dance evolved during C-19.
Our sixth in these experimental online events to spark artistic responses to the experience of ageing, past, present, future, inside and outside of us and of others. To register: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-artistic-exploration-of-ageing-session-6-tickets-111968579034
Our fifth in these experimental online events will build on last week’s discussions about science fiction and explore how age justice rubs up against climate justice.
These booklets contain simple creative activities for people and families affected by dementia experiencing social isolation, especially those without access to digital technology. They are intended to be printed and distributed to people with dementia living at home. They are free to use, share and print.
This is the fourth in these experimental online events to spark artistic responses to the experience of ageing, past, present, future, inside and outside of us and of others. Our provocation this week will be in the realm of science fiction which is just another way of saying imagining the future. As with all the sessions they are open to those who have joined before and those who are new.
Our first session started playing with our notions of ageing and identity. We shared memories, ideas and experiences of our own ageing across the life course and how we have identified ourselves with a sense of our ageing at different times in different ways. Session 2 will set the scene then to get the juices going some kind of provocation and then a short time to air and chew it over with each other. If you missed session 1 then that's no problem at all you can join in at any time.
Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma and Master of Arts Degree Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance invite you to register your interest in The Teaching Musician postgraduate qualification.
We want two things from you on Thursday 14 May. Firstly answer this question - Since lockdown how are people living with dementia engaging with creativity? use our hashtag on social media or email us farrellcurran@ageukoxfordshire.org.uk
This article explores the significance of creativity whether linked to the participatory arts or creative thinking and problem solving in addressing four challenges. It acknowledges the value of the participatory arts but highlights problems of accessibility and sustainability.
Join us to start a creative flurry of artistic expression about the experience of ageing from the moment we are born to the moment we die (or even beyond). We want to tell new stories about age and identity; the ones we actually live and the ones we long to live. Over the next three Wednesdays we will host 3 gatherings. Each one will start with a provocation from us to help think creatively about age identity across the life course. This will be followed by an opportunity to individually nurture some embryonic ideas of creations to explore the provocation (in whatever medium is right to you, performance, visual art, sound, written, sculpture etc). https://www.eventbrite.com/e/an-artistic-exploration-of-ageing-session-1-tickets-104421784368
The Intergenerational Workshop Pack The Wardrobe Ensemble have developed a workshop to be done with someone of a different generation, via phone, email or on Skype/Zoom. It is a revised version of a practical workshop they were planning to run alongside their production 'The Last of the Pelican Daughters' last month. Even though they are unable to run the session in person, they hope that this new workshop will still go some way to enabling conversation, connection and comfort in these uncertain times. Do take a look and if you have any questions please email Emily at emily@thewardrobeensemble.com.
The Wardrobe Ensemble have developed a workshop to be done with someone of a different generation, via phone, email or on Skype/Zoom. It is a revised version of a practical workshop that they were planning to run alongside their latest production 'The Last of the Pelican Daughters' this month. Even though they are unable to run the session in person, they hope that this new workshop will still go some way to enabling conversation, connection and comfort in these uncertain times. Do take a look and if you have any questions please email Emily at emily@thewardrobeensemble.com.
With this guide, On Road draw on over 10 years of expertise in bringing people with personal experience of social issues together with journalists to collaborate on fresh, more nuanced content, in safe and strategic ways.
Thursday is the Day is our new rainbow celebration of creativity. Every Thursday in May we will be asking you to do two things. Firstly we want to show the world your creations and those of people you work with. Secondly the Age of Creativity is to engage in a Creative Ageing Snapshot in partnership with Creative Ageing International, and many other organisations in May & October.
RESIDENTS living in care are going digital to keep connected and creative as homes close their doors amid COVID-19. These past four weeks creative ageing charity Equal Arts has been working with its artists and care homes to quickly adapt how it continues to bring creative opportunities to older people living with dementia, in care and those self-isolating. Artists are dialling in to live stream creative sessions with residents, care staff are being supported with creative how-to guides and members of the 12-venue Gateshead Care Home Choir are beginning to sing together again as they restart their rehearsals via Zoom with musician Liz Corney.
This document has a plethora of resources including • LITERATURE & PODCASTS • DANCE & MOVEMENT • VISUAL ARTS & MUSEUMS • MUSIC AND SINGING • PERFORMING ARTS • COMBINED ARTS • ACTIVITIES DESIGNED FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH DEMENTIA • CARE HOME ACTIVITIES WHICH CAN BE DONE IN YOUR HOME • LEARNING
An initial mapping study of participatory arts and mental health activity in the UK - the first report of our new Arts & Mental Health funding theme.
This is a ground-breaking programme which uses circus to improve the health & wellbeing of older people.
This resource is designed to support those wishing to improve and maintain their health through singing. It may be used to complement membership of a singing for health group, or as a stand-alone resource
Join us to design and decorate your own spring-themed flowerpot ready to plant up for summer. Find inspiration on a guided wander around the galleries, then get crafty in a friendly group with an experienced artist. Maybe you’ll spot cherry blossoms on a Chinese bowl, fall in love with peony flowers embroidered on a silk dress, or chuckle at a cheeky squirrel on an Elizabethan silver spoon.
Evaluating the impact of intergenerational work is key and this Toolkit from the US is an invaluable guide.
The purpose of this guide is to help arts venues of all kinds become appealing to, and supportive of, people living with dementia and their carers. This is an important part of a wider initiative – the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia. Alzheimer’s Society has taken up this challenge and has led work across a range of sectors to make our communities more dementia friendly.
A toolkit to help small museums design their own wellbeing programmes for people living with dementia.
‘Reminiscence’ means sharing life experiences, memories and stories from the past. Typically, a person with dementia is more able to recall things from many years ago than recent memories, so reminiscence draws on this strength. So many of our conversations and interactions rely on short-term memory. Reminiscence can give people with dementia a sense of competence and confidence through using a skill they still have.
We meet every first Monday of the month in Manchester Central library for bite sized artist talks and tutored life drawing sessions. we sketch library, sketch people in the library, connect to other art in the library groups around the world
There is growing awareness of the intrinsic and therapeutic value of artistic work for people living with dementia and provision for them by arts organisations has expanded. However, this has not reached the South Asian communities spoken to in this research in any significant way.
Today we launch our new Age of Creativity festival website for May 2020. The new website is designed for you to easily upload your creative events happening throughout May - and for older people to easily find what’s happening locally in order to take part.
This study responds to a gap in the literature relating to the resilience of people living with dementia in care homes. The authors applied an ecopsychosocial framework of resilience, theorising that sources of resilience may be personal, social and structural. Visual arts enrichment activities were examined to see how they might provide opportunities for resilience.
The 18th Museums + Heritage Awards for Excellence celebrate best practice across the world of museums, galleries, cultural and heritage visitor attractions, attracting hundreds of entries which battle it out to win one of 13 prestigious awards.
Synthesising the findings from over 3,500 published studies, the report covers a spectrum from uncontrolled pilot studies to randomized controlled trials, from small-scale cross-sectional surveys to analyses of nationally-representative longitudinal cohort studies, and from individual case studies to community-wide ethnographies.
The Holburne Museum and Leicester University (The School of Museum Studies) are delighted to invite applications for a fully funded 4 year Collaborative Doctoral Award (CDA) starting October 2020, to explore the social and spatial role of museums in supporting mental wellbeing.
Why arts and health? Arts interventions, such as singing in a choir to improve chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, are considered non-invasive, low-risk treatment options and are increasingly being used by Member States to supplement more traditional biomedical treatments.
The academy will help more people benefit from arts, sport and leisure activities across the country.
The paper covers dimensions of Music and Health, including the physiological benefits of music, with specific investigation into music and empathy. Key findings also highlight the value of music participation as an important tool for both personal wellbeing and social cohesion.
A new report titled 'Older and wiser? Creative Ageing in the UK 2010-9' reviews the development of the creative ageing sector over the past decade, examining how far it has come and considering where it should go next.
This opportunity offers a volunteer role in helping to shape and review Age UK’s external facing policy positions which it uses to influence national and local government. These cover a wide range of topic areas including money matters,housing & homes, health & wellbeing, active communities, care & support and transport
In autumn 2018, 64 Million Artists used co-creation practices to produce an online, creativity-based intervention aimed at improving mood and wellbeing. UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences researched the participants’ experiences using a mixed methods research design. Individuals experiencing low mood and anxiety took part in 30 days of simple creative challenges, sharing their work and reflections in a facilitated WhatsApp group. The numerical data show a “clinically meaningful” increase in participants’wellbeing.
The Royal Albert Hall is hosting a free networking event for arts organisations, charities, community groups, policy makers and researchers to come together to focus on intergenerational music practice. The event will offer the opportunity for arts organisations, policy makers and researchers to meet and make new connections as well as to hear from guest speakers.
xCascading Leadership is a free peer-to-peer leadership development programme for voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations working in health and wellbeing. It enables VCS leaders to share their extensive and varied expertise with peers, to talk about some of the challenges they face and to plan new ways of working.
The charity Music In Mind and comedy legend Paul Whitehouse come together to raise awareness and tell the human stories behind dementia in ‘Hidden Voice’.
This toolkit is a simple guide to communicating that you are Fantastic for Families, and offers guidance on how to use the Standards in practice to improve your family offer.
National Older People’s Day today reminds us of the inspirational creative work that is done every day in this country to help older people achieve a sense of wellbeing- so it’s the perfect time to start publicising our 2020 Age of Creativity Festival. It’s 7 months until the festival month of May and we want YOU to help us celebrate by sharing the amazing work you do and including your events with the wider world. Our theme this year is ‘Reaching Out’, providing more focus on the complex barriers that can prevent people from celebrating with us.
In March 2018 when Cochrane reviewed 16 studies, the combined results failed to show any consistent benefit associated with reminiscence therapy on quality of life, but there was a small effect on performance on cognitive tests. At first sight, this is a disappointing result but read on...
Jenny McCleerya is a Consultant in Old Age Psychiatry at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust working with many patients with dementia. Here she reviews arts therapies.
Social prescribing and community-based support is part of the NHS Long-Term Plan’s commitment to make personalised care business as usual across the health and care system.
The full health impacts of cultural programmes are far from being reached. The DCMS should take the opportunity of the expansion of social prescribing to work with the Department of Health and Social Care to test how far prescription of arts and sports interventions can be mainstreamed in the 23 areas; to develop closer links between commissioning decisions and arts and sports programmes and organisations; and to assess how self-reported wellbeing can be better integrated into health commissioning processes. At present, there appears to be little collection of evidence by Government of the cumulative benefit of cultural programmes, despite the enthusiasm of the organisations who have seen huge benefits.
This was commissioned by Age of Creativity Festival for Age UKs in 2019. As well as a handy facilitators’ guide, with hints and tips for running a successful creative session, you’ll find 6 sets of PDFs of creative challenges people can complete every day of any month. elow, downl
The Health Evidence Network (HEN) synthesis report on arts and health, which will be launched on 11 November 2019, maps the global academic literature on this subject in both English and Russian. It references over 900 publications, including 200 reviews covering over 3000 further studies. As such, the report represents the most comprehensive evidence review of arts and health to date.
This report summarises key themes from a workshop organised by the Manchester Urban Ageing Research Group (MUARG): ‘Developing age-friendly cities: Turning urban research into practice’. The conference provided an opportunity for academics, practitioners, older people and policymakers to discuss best practice for translating research into practice, hear from our industry experts in a short film.
Impact on health and wellbeing of sharing visual art online and offline research study There is currently little known about the experiences of people who share their artwork online. Cindy Brooks from the Centre for Implementation Science at UOS/Wessex AHSN is leading a research study to explore the experiences of those who share their artwork online and offline. If you meet the following criteria, please consider taking part in our research survey ! https://www.isurvey.soton.ac.uk/34058 • Do you share your artwork online? • Do you have 20 minutes to take part in an anonymous questionnaire for our study about people who share their artwork online? • If you are aged 18 years and over and create visual art which you share online, we would like to hear from you!
How the use of digital technology in five arts projects impacted on older people, creative engagement, business models, partnerships, and attitudes towards ageing.
There are a great number of guides to access issues in organisations. This tool kit is short and it concentrates on the arts as a service provider and visitor attraction.
There is huge potential for the arts to contribute to family life through shared entertainment, leisure and learning. These experiences can play a vital role in developing lifelong participation in the arts. There is no simple definition of family or family friendly. Arts Council England believes that the definition of the family unit should be broad and inclusive given that individuals and organisations have different definitions for different purposes.
Attracting BME Audiences This tool kit is provides a simple and easy to use guide to attracting BME audiences for arts organisations. It is not exhaustive but provides information on where to go for further support and help. It is also a useful guide for other minority groups.
Do you live in Wisbech? Aged 50+? Do you participate in the arts or would like to? If so, you might be eligible to take part in a research study on creative ageing...
Are you based in Peterborough? Aged 50+? Do you participate in the arts or would like to? If so, you may be eligible to participate in a research study on creative ageing...
Louisa Borg-Costanzi Potts, Programme Manager and Kate Wakeling, Research Fellow, Learning and Participation at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance reflect on an innovative piece of artist-research, offering audiences personal insight into the inner workings of a participatory arts project for people with dementia in a care home.
Need some help with your arts organisation or event this summer? Not sure where to start? Maybe I can help? I am a Freelance Arts Consultant / Events Manager & Researcher, with a specialism in arts and ageing. If you need some support, get in touch!
There's No Bus Map for Dementia is a comic about experiences of living well with dementia. It was created through a series of arts workshops involving a group of people with dementia and dementia advocates (Beth Johnson Foundation), artists (Cathy Leamy and Jessica Lucas) and researcher/facilitator (Sarah McNicol).
A opportunity for men and boys to have their voices heard in new verbatim theatre project by playwright Shireen Mula. Shireen has spoken to 95 men and boys so far on the topic of masculinity and would like to hear your views too!
A series of four workshops in Oxford inspired by the arts, for health and social care professionals, counsellors and psychotherapists, chaplains and faith leaders who want to deepen their practice of psycho-spiritual care. Open to people of all faiths and beliefs, the 2019 course is presented by experienced arts practitioners working in four different fields. Course dates: 17 Sept, 15 Oct, 19 Nov, 10 Dec. Venue: Oxford Friends Meeting House, 43 St Giles, Oxford.
A researcher from the University of Northampton is undertaking a piece of research to explore the ways that drama or theatre are being used in the area of dementia, to gain an understanding of the breadth of work and who this work is aimed at. Artists and arts organisations are invited to take part in this research through a short online questionnaire.
What is it about arts and dementia that make it so difficult to evaluate? This graphic narrative might just make it clearer.
Closer Look at Creating Spaces that Connect Young and Old. Intergenerational shared sites make common sense, in terms of reducing social isolation, creating livable communities and positively impacting participants’ lives.
Creative Arts and Dementia: Developing Best Practice Tuesday 24 September 2019 Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham This conference is designed to highlight and showcase the very best practice across arts, health and social care sectors and to explore how we can embed this in care homes and in the community. We encourage all innovative leaders including those in arts organisations and venues, care homes, the NHS and CQC, who want to connect and share their experiences and to address the issues of sustaining best practice in care settings as well as promoting social prescription in communities.
Aimed at individuals living with dementia, their families and carers, Art in an Envelope is a scheme that supplies creative activity packs to households where people are living with dementia.
With over half of people surveyed saying that they want to make more use of museums & galleries in the future, these places clearly represent an untapped resource...
The Welsh Government’s programme for government, Taking Wales Forward 2016-2021, sets out a commitment to ‘develop a nationwide and cross-government strategy to address loneliness and isolation as part of its strategy to improve the health and wellbeing of the population.
For the last two years, Age UK Oxfordshire has been working in partnership with Age UK head office to help develop more creative and cultural activities locally across the country.
The BEAM lab at the University of Manchester is conducting a survey of dance provision for older people, including those with Parkinson's or dementia. If you are involved in delivering dance programmes for older people we would love to hear from you.
The UK Cinema Association, supported by Dimensions and the BFI Film Audience Network, have produced this guide on how best to deliver and promote autism- friendly screenings at your cinemas. We hope you find it useful and it inspires you to consider putting on your own autism-friendly screenings.
Cubitt Artists' community studios scheme develops creative relationships between residents and artists in care settings
We make grants of up to £30,000 over one to three years and provide access to business expertise to help our grantees achieve their goals.
A 10 week Textile Design workshop programme for people living with early stage dementia and their companions, run by Arts 4 Dementia and Rosetta Arts at the Newham Community Renewal Programme in Manor Park.
An intergenerational project to bring children and older adults together to create and dance.
There is emerging evidence that social prescribing can lead to a range of positive health and wellbeing outcomes for people, such as improved quality of life and emotional wellbeing. Though there is a need for more robust and systematic evidence on the effectiveness of social prescribing, social prescribing schemes may lead to a reduction in the use of NHS services, including GP attendance. 59% of GPs think social prescribing can help reduce their workload.
Dementia and Imagination training for artists, organisational staff and those delivering dementia-friendly creative arts programmes. https://equalarts.org.uk/our-work/training
We seek comfort from other beings, which in the absence of other humans often finds a solution in relationships with dogs. The positivity for health is particularly relevant to the elderly, who may be especially isolated and emotionally vulnerable. Although sharing one's life with a dog gives purpose and comfort, it also brings anxieties regarding care and separation should that relationship change or cease. For the elderly, this concerns being worried for the dog's fate should they be separated by entering housing or care facilities, or by illness or death.
BUILDING ON SUCCESS The Age of Creativity Festival moves to the full month of May this year. Following the success of the 2018 festival with over 300 events, we are hoping to increase that number and we are also introducing new features so more people can get involved. Please start planning events to be part of the Festival. We would be very grateful if you could share this communique with yoru networks.
Commissioned by the Baring Foundation, the publication spotlights some of the best examples of orchestral work supporting older people living better lives and meeting the challenges of health and loneliness.
This report tells the story of the 12 TOY pilot actions which took place during 2014 in five European countries. The goal was to unite young children and older people in enriching intergenerational activities, improve social bonds and dismantle stereotypes. The actions were led and supported by local communities, municipalities and care services. During the actions schools, kindergartens and care homes were freed up to become resources for a wider cross-section of the population. As a result of the TOY pilots, their ability to engage with a broader public was enhanced and their value as a resource for the whole community was developed.
Intergenerational connections are magic. But anyone who has worked in an intergenerational program knows that magic takes work. If our goal is to develop meaningful connections, we can’t simply put different generations in a giant blender and hit the mix button. We need to prepare and take time to be thoughtful, intentional, and respectful. This book offers the tools to start to do just that.
This report focuses on the findings from a literature review of what is known about the effectiveness of intergenerational practice, conducted by the NFER for the Local Government Association (LGA).
The purpose of this Guide is to introduce some of the fundamental elements of Intergenerational Practice. It is intended to be of practical use particularly to those working in Voluntary and Community Sectors (VCS), Local Authorities (LAs) and Central Government Departments (CGDs).
Intergenerational contact has previously been shown to have important benefits to older and younger people’s self-concept, and to reduce negative stereotypes of ageing. The aim of the Still Stomping: a project led by Moving Memory Dance Theatre and Gulbenkian, is to improve self-concept and age attitudes by celebrating age in an intergeneration dance theatre context.
50 activities, long and short, for use in any setting with older people. This little book is truly a cabinet of wonders. Do not be deceived by its simple descriptions of creative activities. Each one is a door onto experiences that might take you in all sorts of unexpected directions. At the same time, these ideas have been tested day after day, sometimes for years. They work. They offer fun, discovery and delight. They fire the imagination. They have been invented by artists who love working with people and who have generously shared some of their best tricks. It is a precious gift because seeing what others do, picking up things you like and adapting them to your own situation is vital to developing a participatory art practice.
New research finds that the work of Moving Memory counters age stereotypes - and that if we have more positive attitudes to ageing, we are more likely to feel better and be healthier.
This month a new round of Creative People and Places funding opens. We will be allocating £24 million for this new programme of funding between 2019-2023 to places identified as the 'least engaged' in arts and culture across England, according to the Active Lives survey November 2015 to May 2017.
From 2015-17, we surveyed the many creative ways that older people engage with music, and explored why the majority of care homes do not regularly offer this opportunity. We found a wealth of evidence supporting the use of music for older people, particularly for those living with dementia. However, we also found there was limited evidence available about how music programmes can impact on a whole care home.
In the absence of cures or effective pharmacological treatments for the dementias, the inherent possibilities of the arts for transforming the lived experience of dementia and even their therapeutic potential for addressing these complex conditions, is gaining widespread recognition
Jane shares findings from NatCen research into linked data from the four waves of Understanding Society surveys of adults and young people that included questions on cultural and sports participation,
Now open for applications This is a two-year rolling programme, so you can apply at any time for funding between £1,000-£5,000.
Nesta's new £3.7m fund will make small repayable loans to English arts, cultural and creative organisations to support increased social impact and resilience.
Kent-based Moving Memory is using its Celebrating Age grant to develop intergenerational dance performances and to engage older people living with mental health issues in dance.
The University of Derby's Creative Ageing Research Cluster invite you to attend a seminar on 'Dancing with Shadows: Choreo-cartography as mode of method of embodied memory' with Dr Beatrice Jarvis (Lecturer in Dance, Kingston University, London). Choreo-cartography as mode of method of memory production and investigation of the embodied spatial archive through the process of the choreographic workshop as space for the presence of ephemeral mnemonic geographics?
Bring older and younger generations together in your community. Our free guide to Intergenerational Activity is packed full of key information, inspiring success stories and top tips for your own projects.
There is some wonderful work happening in the creative ageing field with spoken word, creative writing and literature - and there should be more says David Cutler!
Arts, cultural and creative organisations will receive lower interest rates if they can demonstrate positive social impact.
The wonderful Michael Rosen explores how to communicate with people with dementia. Alison Wray offers advice, such as to respond to the feeling behind the words rather than the words themselves.
Artsworks' funding enabled us to develop two pieces of professional development for artists engaged, or wishing to become engaged, in participatory arts practice with older people: 1. Sharing Practice – a facilitated ‘reflective learning’ group for experienced older people’s arts practitioners, taking co-mentoring as a core facilitative process 2. Older and Wiser – a one day conference style event for emerging older people’s arts practitioners
For the last 18 months, I have been fortunate enough to be part of Created Out of Mind , an interdisciplinary research project based at the Wellcome Collection in London. The project, funded by Wellcome, has brought together artists, clinicians, broadcasters, musicians, scientists and people living with dementias, with the aim of exploring, challenging and shaping perceptions and understanding of dementias.
Explore, challenge and shape your perceptions of dementia through science and the creative arts
As a recently established dementia friendly institution, the University of Suffolk are delighted to invite you to attend an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded day of dementia and the arts. The event will take place on Saturday 10th November and will run from 9.30 am - 3.00 pm.
EMERGING COMPANY PROGRAMMING PROFESSIONAL CLASSICAL MUSIC FOR PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA NEEDS MORE VENUES London based Songhaven gives people living with dementia (and their carers and companions) the dignity of high-calibre professional music concerts. It prides itself on its warm and relaxed atmosphere where audience members are welcome to sing along and move to the music. Its post-concert afternoon teas provide an opportunity for conversation - performers mingle with audience members and it always takes note of song requests for future programmes.
Gloucestershire charity, Mindsong has been commissioned by NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group to deliver four new singing groups for people with COPD or persistent lung conditions. Called Breathe in Sing out the project takes place in Gloucester, Cheltenham, Lydney and Stroud. Courses start on Wednesday 3rd Oct.
BBC Music Memories is a website designed to use music to help people with dementia reconnect with their most powerful memories. Evidence shows that music can help people with dementia to feel and live better.
LIVE QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION. As part of the Age of Creativity Festival we are hosting, with others, a live Facebook session where you can find out what it takes to become Age Friendly.
Let's celebrate the wonderful exchange of ideas and practice between different countries we see in the creative ageing field today - International Older People's Day.
Mental health is the single largest cause of disability in the UK, and it is estimated that almost a quarter of the country’s population are affected by mental health issues each year. So in September 2018, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) announced £8 million of funding to bring researchers, charities and other organisations together to address important mental health research questions. One of the grants for £1.25m has been awarded to Dr Daisy Fancourt, Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care at UCL.
A guide to representing dementia in the arts, culture and popular discourse.
The Dementia-friendly arts guide is a guide for arts venue managers and staff on how to make the environment, facilities and programming of arts venues accessible to people with dementia, their families and carers.
Theories of cognitive reserve, disuse syndrome and stress have suggested that activities that are mentally engaging, enjoyable and socially interactive could be protective against the development of dementia.
Creating a society that supports and includes those of us who are living with a dementia is a major challenge - and opportunity. In this course you will discover how the arts can create a common ground between people, and in doing so, learn what we can all do to improve the quality of life and care for people living with different dementias. Each of the four weeks will showcase current best practice, explain the limits of our current understanding, and set ambitious goals for enhancing the lives of anyone affected by one of these conditions.
“I have happier thoughts, and have something to look forward to. I like being appreciated. I am more motivated to get out and about. My greatest joy is sharing my love for music. I am feeling more involved; with Rural Arts, with the village, and with my daughter and am feeling better about life, especially in the last few weeks.” Norman, aged 96.
The Storybox Project is a creative project which uses imagination and storymaking to engage, enliven and empower people living with dementia, and the people that support them. This short film celebrates our Storybox Creative Cafe which has been running at Bury Art Museum since 2015.
When people hear the word shed, they may think about a rickety wooden building at the bottom of a garden crawling with spiders, filled with old paint tins, a lawnmower and out-of-date weedkiller. It has also been associated with the term “man cave” – a space where a man spends time on his own, tinkering with junk or avoiding his partner. But our new research found there was more to the humble shed than meets the eye – mainly thanks to a revolutionary social programme which is fighting loneliness.
A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR CHARITIES AND SOCIAL ENTERPRISES Whether you want to improve health, education or employment, measuring wellbeing can show you the wider impact you have on the people and communities you support.
xA nationally representative survey of 1,002 GPs, recently commissioned by Aesop, has revealed that 66% of GPs agree that public engagement with the arts can make a significant contribution towards preventing ill health among the public.
ACE has just opened the second round of our Developing your Creative Practice fund. There was strong competition for funds in round one so Cate Canniffe, its Director of Dance and London, has some advice for those applying this time round. Whether you’ve already made an unsuccessful application and want to reapply, or if this is your first time, here are Cate’s top tips for making a successful DYCP application.
Find out more about our work exploring the impact simple creativity can have on the mental wellbeing of older people.
Loneliness is a prevalent phenomenon within the older adult population. Previous literature suggests that technology use, specifically internet use, can alleviate loneliness and improve well-being. This research study follows 32 people over the age of 65 using a digital technology for six months.
If you missed it July's issue included info on #onemorething, Making intergenerational connections, New Museums as spaces for wellbeing free online course, Creative Minds work with older people with learning difficulties and Best Practice Symposium on the theme of Social Prescription.
Unexpected Encounters makes the case for the role that museums can play in supporting older people as individuals to live well, helping them to deal with the changes brought about by age, and challenging negative, deficit models of aging.
This report provides a snapshot of the diverse creative ageing training provision available to artists and care staff in the UK as surveyed in July 2017.
Men are living longer and while this is good news, research indicates that older men are increasingly experiencing loneliness. The Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness estimates that eight million men (of all ages) in the UK feel lonely at least once a week, with nearly three million reporting that it is a daily occurrence. One in ten men said they would not admit to feeling lonely. Emerging findings from an ongoing evaluation of a programme in Leeds, called Time to Shine, provide learning on how to support older men who are, or may be at risk of being, lonely.
From September to October 2014, Filipa Pereira-Stubbs spent 4 weeks in the United States, visiting three hospitals, researching how their Wellness and Arts programmes serve patients, staff, caregivers and the wider hospital community. Complimenting the hospital work, she met dance practitioners who work in the community with elderly populations.
AND HOW JAPAN CARES FOR ITS GROWING NUMBERS OF PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA BY PAM SCHWEITZER WINSTON CHURCHILL TRAVELLING FELLOWSHIP 2017
Article written about the Elevate participatory arts programme at Salisbury District Hospital
Making Bridges with Music (MBWM) was an intergenerational pilot intervention thatworked with participants from 5 months to 100 years of age in 3 care homes in the Torbay area of the South West of England. MBWM was an innovative music and arts intervention that ran for 6 weeks (May-July 2017) and worked collaboratively with pre-school children, elderly people living in care homes, childminders and care home staff members. MBWM was funded primarily by Awards for All with the support of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Doorstep Arts and Torbay Early Years Advisory Team. The intervention team included musicians, visual artists, singers and actors with vast experience working in community settings with diverse groups.
Following our sell-out event last year, this year we will be moving from examining the case for social prescribing and the benefits it offers to exploring the ways in which it can be embedded and implemented. In collaboration with the College of Medicine and the Social Prescribing Network, we will look at how it can be measured and the impact it is already having on outcomes for patients.
This library of educational videos is designed to serve as a toolbox to dance artists and activities co-ordinators when planning activities with older adults.
Creativity in Mind is a collaboration with UCL Division of Psychology and Life Sciences exploring the impact of everyday creativity on people experiencing low mood and anxiety. It's free for anyone to take part in.
New Museums as spaces for wellbeing free online course by the National Alliance for Museums, Health and Wellbeing The National Alliance for Museums, Health and Wellbeing have launched a free online course: Museums as spaces for wellbeing. Available from 29 June 2018. Funded by Arts Council England and Wellcome. This course is aimed at providing advice, tools and guidance on the steps to take in order to develop, deliver and evaluate health and wellbeing work within a museum, heritage or cultural organisation.
Our strategy contains five goals that shape all our work with the arts, museums and libraries sector. These are: 1. Excellence is thriving and celebrated in the arts, museums and libraries 2. Everyone has an opportunity to experience and be inspired by the arts, museums and libraries 3. The arts, museums and libraries are resilient and environmentally sustainable 4. The leadership and workforce in the arts,museums and libraries are diverse and appropriately skilled 5. Every child and young person has the opportunity to experience the richness of the arts, museums and libraries
The purpose of this Guide is to introduce some of the fundamental elements of Intergenerational Practice. It is intended to be of practical use particularly to those working in Voluntary and Community Sectors (VCS), Local Authorities (LAs) and Central Government Departments (CGDs).
Intergenerational programmes are often seen as 'nice to have' rather than necessary. So in a time of restricted funds, priorities turn to other, more pressing needs. However, social psychological research has been gathering evidence over decades which highlights the key benefits arising from promoting good relationships between seemingly opposing social groups. These social groups can (and do) include 'the old' and 'the young'. The evidence has been disparate, however, and the whole notion of an age group comes with problems. How old do you have to be to be 'old'? At what age does someone stop being 'young'? Answers to these questions are so dependent on context that perhaps the notion of an age group at all becomes difficult. Yet we do make some judgements of each other and ourselves, based on our age. Ageism has a host of negative effects for older and younger people, and for society as a whole.
The second report is intended to explore in greater depth the development of the museums, health and wellbeing sector. The data on which it is based come from a variety of sources, including consultation involved in the production of a good practice guide for projects involving older people; from regional trainings that took place across England in 2017; from evaluation feedback from these trainings; from discussions that fed into the co-design of the online resource; and finally from a second museums, health and wellbeing survey.
The National Alliance for Museums, Health and Wellbeing has produced a series of webinars exploring health, wellbeing and museums from different perspectives
The free symposium aims to go beyond the current prescriptive models of 'successful ageing' and 'active ageing', contributing to the development of a more nuanced conception of fulfilment, justice, contentment and wellbeing in older age.
This new Guide could throw light on our communication with older people. Although older people are no different from younger people in most ways, there are some physical and mental changes that occur naturally as the human body ages.
In 2019, Arts 4 Dementia is organising a Best Practice Symposium on the theme of Social Prescription for Dementia, to showcase best UK examples of partnerships and social prescription and it needs your help. Does your organisation run arts programmes for people with dementia in the community, with referral through Social Prescription? Or perhaps you run a voluntary creative or cultural befriender scheme, whereby two individuals, one with dementia and an escort who share a passion for the arts, go to arts events together, whether participatory or performance?
Our new research report outlines People United’s niche position within an exciting and emerging research landscape that links the arts with psychology and civil society research on wellbeing, resilience, social cohesion and active citizenship. As part of our 10 year anniversary, we wanted to create a report that pulls together a decade of our research, learning and experience.
Over the last 2 years, 64 Million Artists has worked with Leicester Ageing Together to explore the impact of everyday creativity and digital tools on the wellbeing of older people. This action research project was funded by Nominet Trust and The Baring Foundation.
The findings of our new report That Age Old Question reveal that ageist views are held across the generations, and that an ageing society is viewed by many as a challenge rather than an opportunity. We are making a number of recommendations aimed at addressing some of the key drivers and negative consequences of societal ageism.
In 2017 & 2018, 64 Million Artists worked with Leicester Ageing Together to explore the impact of everyday creativity and simple digital tools on the wellbeing and social inclusion of older people. This action research project was funded by Nominet Trust and The Baring Foundation.
Creativity and Learning in Later Life examines how processes such as ‘creativity’ and ‘inspiration’ are experienced by writers who engage with the visual arts, and questions how age is perceived in relation to these processes. The author’s careful analysis challenges many of the assumptions on which museum education currently operates, contributing to wider debates surrounding the value of arts and cultural heritage education.
A new report from Northern Ireland Strengthening the voice of older people in society and tackling issues of isolation, loneliness, social inclusion, poverty, health and dementia, through the arts The Arts & Older People Programme has been set up to create opportunities for older people to participate in arts activities that contribute to their health and wellbeing. It targets poverty, isolation and loneliness, introduces opportunities for social interaction and helps to build confidence, resilience and a stronger sense of purpose in life.
Keele's Centre for Ageing Research (KCAR) is delighted to host Dr Nuria Casado Gual (University of Lleida) whose internationally-funded research fellowship is enabling her to develop and share her work on late-life creativity in partnership with colleagues at Keele, the New Vic Theatre, and the creative writing community of North Staffordshire.
Homemade Circus uses circus to improve the health and wellbeing of older participants. This booklet for care homes enables care homes and day centres to try out some simple circus games themselves.
This research highlights a need for a fundamental re-think of digital inclusion policy and practice for people in later life. There are now more people online in later life than ever before. Over the last several years, the proportion of older people using the internet has risen considerably faster than for the general population.
Silver Sunday has produced a really useful Toolkit for those wanting to plan an event on Sunday 7 October. It's useful for anyone organising an arts event at any time.
Throughout 2016-2017, people over 60, explored the relationship between ageing and culture with writer, Sarah Butler, through a series of conversations, debates, investigations and creative writing workshops.
The Patterns and Potters of our city. 'Tuesday's pottery class is like a religion', said a resident to me the other day, 'it's the marker of my week, every day before and after is the countdown to pottery day'.
The Arts in Care Homes programme was a joint funding initiative with the Arts Council England (2013-2016) to explore models of professional arts practice with and for older people in care homes over three years.
In April's Newsletter you'll find information on Opting back in to our Enewsletter thanks to GDPR, our Website upload, Event, Blog and Social Media posts and Event of the month.
Through Age UK's wellbeing research, it has attempted to find out what makes later life worth living. Its new report explores the striking impact of creative and cultural activities.
I am seeking help please with some work I am doing to look at the role and impact of creative arts and cultural participation in reducing loneliness. Please would you help me with any research references, contact details of anyone working in this specific area, pointers, suggestions, ideas, by contacting me at paullewiscann@gmail.com . I’d be enormously grateful.
cARTrefu is an exciting arts project run by Age Cymru. Since 2015 we’ve been matching Welsh care homes with some of Wales’ most creative artists to give older people access to quality arts activities.
Around 450,000 older people live in care homes in the UK. Older people in care are likely to be particularly disadvantaged in terms of access to arts and cultural activities, but participation in the arts can have a huge impact on wellbeing at what can be a difficult time of life. We gave Age Cymru a grant in 2015 for cARTrefu, a programme of artists’ residencies in care homes in Wales, jointly funded with the Arts Council of Wales. The first phase delivered nearly 2,000 hours of multi-form arts provision to over 1,500 residents in 122 care homes. A second phase is now underway.
Still Stomping provides an exciting opportunity to challenge the divisions we create in our society in particular- age. By bringing children, young people and older people together we hope to increase understanding, empathy and celebrate and unite the individual and community no matter what age they are. Liz Moran, Director of Arts and Culture, University of Kent
The 16 successful organisations from across England will deliver projects that bring together and engage older people in music, dance, literature and the visual arts.
In March's Newsletter you'll find information on Opting back in to our Enewsletter thanks to GDPR Our Website upload, Event, Blog and Social Media posts of the month Event of the m
Sonia York-Pryce presents a visual documentation celebrating the mature dancers corporeal difference highlighting their practice rather than their age defines them. 8 dancers 4 from Sydney and 4 from London interpret Sonia's dance motif creating an embodied dialogue of movement.
• £100,000 funding will help to establish England’s festival for creative ageing over 18 months • Celebrating Age fund announces second round of funding from Arts Council England through the National Lottery and the Baring Foundation •Partnership between Voluntary Arts, Age UK and Age UK Oxfordshire to build local networks and expertise to enable creative participation
An apple a day is said to keep the doctor away but could a poem, painting or play have the same effect? Daisy Fancourt is a Wellcome Research Fellow at University College London. In her Essay, recorded with an audience at Sage Gateshead for the Free Thinking Festival, she looks at experiments with results which which prove that going to a museum is known to enhance neuronal structure in the brain and improve its functioning and people who play a musical instrument have a lower risk of developing dementia
As Greater Manchester becomes the UK's first age-friendly city region, as recognised by the World Health Organisation, it's good to reflect on what an Age-friendly Community actually means in practice.
LAHF have been working on this project with partners in Liverpool supported by Dementia Connect. This has been to develop a new arts-based tool for people to use when they receive a diagnosis of dementia. As part of this work we have collaborated with the researcher Frances Williams who has looked at arts projects targeting the period immediately after a dementia diagnosis. This under-developed area of arts and health practice has revealed some interesting learning and challenges in delivery and the research identifies opportunities for improving practice
This report contains the initial findings from a study into creative social activity and older adult wellbeing. Key findings highlight the benefits to older women's self-worth and belonging resulting from regular social participatory arts activities.
Normally associated with children – in particular, a future king of England – it may come as a surprise that Montessori education methods can be highly effective for supporting people with dementia.
Frances Williams PhD research explores how devolution is impacting the field of Arts in health. I began this enormous task last year by trying to understand the big picture, looking at how policy frameworks and forms of government diverge in their approach to Arts in Health – not only between the(four)nations but recently devolved(English)city-regions too.
Wellcome’s Public Engagement Fund is reopening on 5 March after being closed briefly. We've changed elements of how we're going to run the scheme and what we're looking for. In particular, we want applicants to be clearer about the change they are going to make in the world.
Frances Williams PhD research explores how devolution is impacting the field of Arts in health. I began this enormous task last year by trying to understand the big picture, looking at how policy frameworks and forms of government diverge in their approach to Arts in Health – not only between the (four) nations but recently devolved (English) city-regions too.
The UK has undergone and continues to experience a fundamental change in its demographic profile and society needs to adapt to support an ageing population. As the average age steadily rises and life expectancy increases by 5 hours a day, due to improved lifestyles and healthcare, a radical review of approach is required. Open Forum Events invite you to join us at the Ageing Population: Meeting Needs Through Innovation conference where the challenges, opportunities and initiatives, which are associated with an older population, will be discussed and shared.
An exchange with Taiwan on the theme of creative ageing reveals some inspiring projects from one of the world's fastest ageing societies.
It has been highlighted as a public health priority to identify ways of supporting well-being in older age to allow people to lead healthy and integrated lifestyles. This study explored whether membership in eight different sorts of community groups was associated with enhanced experienced, evaluative and eudemonic well-being among older adults.
A new study, published in the journal Systematic Reviews, conducted by researchers at the University of Liverpool and Newcastle University has identified the most effective initiatives for promoting respect and social inclusion for older people living in the community.
This work-based research by Jacqueline Richards makes a timely contribution, bringing together older people’s voices, work-based practice, theory and learning to create new knowledge that can inform future research and practice, whether large or small scale.
Created Out of Mind is a team aiming to explore, challenge and shape perceptions and understanding of dementias through science and the creative arts.
Recognition of the role of artistic and creative practices in enhancing health, wellbeing and quality of life is gaining increasing significance as evident through a number of reports, research and news articles, initiatives and events.
The symptoms of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people with dementia could significantly improve by listening to and playing music, according to a report. The study, which compiled existing evidence as well as talking to experts, found music can help people with dementia recall information and reduce symptoms such as anxiety, agitation and aggression.
Integrating arts and culture into NHS plans will both save and change lives, write Lord Haworth and Rob Webster. “Creative Minds not only saved my life, it gave me a life”. I first heard Debs Taylor, a peer project development worker, tell me this at a conference on social prescribing. In one sentence, she captured why a focus on the arts and health should be a fundamental part of every NHS plan and strategy.
A new report from the Commission on Dementia and Music. With the number of people living with dementia in the UK expected to reach one million by 2025, this is a hugely important issue for society as a whole, and one which the ILC-UK has focused on for over ten years. Whilst dementia and music might seem like a niche topic, the work of the Commission has, for the first time, brought together experts, specialists, and people with dementia to examine the topic holistically. The Commission has outlined the value and benefits of music for people with dementia, whilst also looking at the important next steps which can be taken to ensure that everyone with dementia is able to access music.
Moving Memory Dance Theatre Company, worked with Age Uk Thanet's Intergenerational, Sunshine Saturday group, exploring stories and experiences of the sea. The project culminated in the creation of this movie which celebrates this vibrant community of people. The project was funded by the Big Lottery.
This toolkit is designed to provide you with all the information and resources you need to set up and run an effective intergenerational digital inclusion project. It aims to be helpful to both organisations who are setting out on this path for the first time and those who would like to improve or build on current digital inclusion activities. It can also be used by schools and colleges that would like to offer this project as part of their enrichment activities.
The Family Arts Campaign’s new Age-Friendly Standards mark an important expansion of the organisation’s remit, developing an essential new strand of work supporting the cultural sector to welcome older generations. What are the Age-Friendly Standards? The Standards are a national self-assessed accreditation for cultural organisations and a recognised and trusted symbol for older audiences and family groups including older people. Organisations that sign-up to the Age-Friendly Standards value all generations and want to provide a welcoming and positive experience for visitors, regardless of their age.
A look back on a year of activities and events for older people in Hull UK City of Culture in 2017. Circus skills workshops in care homes, talent shows for the over 55s and weekly cultural challenges – older people in Hull have certainly played their part in 2017.
American think tank Createquity has collated and reviewed research into the health benefits of the arts. The organisation has come up with a list of areas where they identify the evidence for the impact of the arts on wellbeing is strong.
Right now there are numerous projects across Scotland that are, in diverse and sometimes groundbreaking ways, supporting older people in engaging with the arts.
Arts on Prescription uses participatory arts programs, alongside traditional health care, to help older people improve their physical and mental wellbeing.
This report explains why the Baring Foundation has been funding arts and older people activity and describes what we have funded for the first eight years of our grant making. We are aware that we are just one piece of the jigsaw in a much broader picture of creative ageing.
This major, new review of museums has called for better collaboration across the sector to maximise museums’ social impact. The review cites the significant impact museums can have on the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.
Luminate have launched new publication Late Opening: Arts and Older People in Scotland, collecting and presenting stories of a diverse range of projects that support older people in engagement in the arts in Scotland.
There are now 11.6 million people aged 65 or over in the UK, of which 1.5 million people are aged 85 or over*. Over a 4 year period beginning in 2010, The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust collaborated with the Baring Foundation to fund 47 Churchill Fellowships in a programme entitled 'Creative Ageing', examining the belief that the arts can play a positive role in older people's lives, including those with dementia. In recent years there have been many exciting developments in this burgeoning field. This report brings together some of the findings from the Churchill Fellows' international, experiential research projects, particularly concentrating on the work around the arts and dementia.
This is a good read for people wanting to know what the Baring Foundation is up to.
To help heritage sites get started on becoming dementia-friendly organisations, this guide contains information about how dementia affects people’s experience of interacting with heritage. It also provides tips, guidance and signposting to help heritage sites become more dementia-friendly.
The case for local authority involvement in arts and older people.
People affected by dementia often have to give up the things they love due to inaccessible and unsupportive environments. This includes visiting a cinema.
Experiences of Being report into creative arts and dementia The Beth Johnson Foundation and Anchor, England's largest not-for-profit provider of housing and care for older people, has produced a report detailing the positive impacts of six months of drama, music and dance workshops at 17 of Anchor's care homes in Surrey, with over 200 residents.
Created Out of Mind's work on music and dementia featured across a weekend of live performances and discussions produced by BBC Radio 3 in partnership with Wellcome Collection. It's great collection of programmes which you can listen thanks to the wonders of the internet.
A regional programme, with a framework to integrate arts into dementia services in Dorset – a feasibility study
An Expert Seminar: Music and Dementia Monday 20th November, 10am-5pm Wellcome Trust London NW1 2BE This FREE event will be of huge interest to anyone involved or interested in working with people with dementia using music. The event represents an unmissable opportunity to engage with and learn from some of the UK's leading academics, researchers and musicians. Speakers include: Dr Ming Hung Hsu, MHA Professor Seb Crutch, UCL Douglas Noble, Live Music Now Dr Clare Garabedian, University of Worcester Julian West, Music for Life Helen Odell-Miller, Anglia Ruskin University Charlotte Cunningham, Turtle Key Arts Please book your place here: http://www.emailmeform.com/builder/form/h3daHyB6IpwbNXR
Music can’t exist without memory. But, despite the fact that memory loss can be associated with dementia, people living with it are often still able to listen, sing along, perform or move to music. It offers a way to communicate beyond language, and to sustain creativity, as well as giving insights into how memories themselves are formed.
We are a cross-college research development cluster looking into 'creative ageing', based at the University of Derby. We are looking at five areas of interest, which will be developed into a research funding bid. Update: April 2018 We are holding a Creative Ageing Research Consortium Development Meeting on Tuesday 17th April 2018, with external partners attending.
Older people are dancing more than ever before – for performance, pleasure and health. David Cutler celebrates some of the initiatives happening around the UK.
David Cutler highlights some of innovative creative ageing projects happening in the Netherlands following a recent research trip.
Jobbing artists in the UK may be surprised to learn that Germany has a social insurance scheme for artists, paid into by the state and by cultural organisations that hire them, which is intended to provide for sick pay, pensions and so on. Politicians have tried to take a knife to it over the years, but it continues and does reflect a level of regard for the social contribution artists make.
In early 2015 I was awarded a Fellowship from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and in Autumn 2015 I travelled to North America where I spent 6 weeks looking at the value of creative expression for elders. During my trip, I visited 6 cities and 24 art-based programmes for older adults and/or people with dementia. This report covers where I went and what I saw and the key findings from each of my four areas of research: Storytelling & Poetry, Intergenerational Programmes, Museum & Gallery Programmes & Visual Arts. It also explores the factors I believe organisations who undertake creative work with elders should be aware of and how participation in the arts can positively enhance the lives of older adults.
A Choir in Every Care Home is an ambitious initiative to explore how music and singing can feature regularly in care homes across the country. The website has a Tookit for Care Homes, one for Musicians and a helpful Resource section,
For the fourth edition of Festival in My House, Estelle Longmore invited family and fellow residents of Cosgrove Hall Court retirement village in Chorlton to curate their own international Festival. Reflections on Living at Cosgrove Hall Court celebrated the lives, stories and creative interests of the village residents through poetry, song, performance and art.
The Inquiry Report, Creative Health: The Arts for Health and Wellbeing, presents the findings of two years of UK-based research, evidence-gathering and discussions with patients, health and social care professionals, artists and arts administrators, academics, people in local government, ministers, other policy-makers and parliamentarians from both Houses of Parliament.
Udita Everett runs six well attended therapeutic Sing For Better Health groups per week, across Brighton & Hove. They are for older people – or anybody any age, with a long-term health problem. Many of members live on their own - the singing groups become a lifeline to them, where they form friendships; one of the main aims is to get older people out of isolation.
LMN selects and trains the most talented musicians emerging into the music profession, choosing those that demonstrate the potential to engage participants in a meaningful way. During their 4-6 years on the scheme, we enhance these skills, equipping them to deliver interactive performances and workshops focused on the needs and enjoyment of the participants.
At the heart of our Inquiry lies a question: how can arts organisations better fulfil their civic role? The question is not born from mere curiosity but from ambition; one consistent with the work of the Foundation over decades(see a list of previous UK Branch work at the back of this report). This ambition comes from a belief in the benefit that participation in the arts confers on all of us – validating our stories and creating new ones – and in the potential of the arts in a changing world to bridge diverse communities and renew the bonds between us.
Fun Palaces is a two-pronged approach to community engagement in culture – by which we mean tech, digital, crafts, arts and science. We are both a campaign for everyday creativity in all its forms at the heart of every community and also an annual weekend of action. The Fun Palaces weekend every October sees professional arts, sciences and tech organisations come together with grassroots enthusiasts to share their knowledge, skills and enthusiasm in a hyper-local event created by and for local communities.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing (APPGAHW) was formed in 2014 and aims to improve awareness of the benefits that the arts can bring to health and wellbeing. During 2015–17, the APPGAHW conducted an Inquiry into practice and research in the arts in health and social care, with a view to making recommendations to improve policy and practice. Our partners in this Inquiry have been the National Alliance for Arts, Health and Wellbeing, King’s College London, the Royal Society for Public Health and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity.
I have been invited by Age of Creativity to consider ‘how far have we come in creative ageing?’. It would be easy to offer something uplifting in response to this daunting challenge and leave it at that. There are hundreds of inspiring case studies of work across all art forms, some of which we have supported. It would be fun to write and hopefully enjoyable to read, but also a bit smug and a little lazy. So I have tried to take a step back and look more analytically. I am afraid that this might be less inspirational – and isn’t intended to detract from all that brilliant work – but hopefully is a little more thoughtful.
Living the Drama is a not for profit theatre company, based in Oxford. We produce professional theatre, hold playwriting courses for older people, and now funded by Arts Council England, we have created an outreach project taking theatre to eight Residential and Care Homes in Oxfordshire. This joyful experience taught us many lessons, not least is never assume older people especially those with dementia are unable to enjoy live theatre. We all had a ball! The full article gives more detail and we're happy to share our experience with anyone interested in Theatre for Care Homes.
'Daringly Able' is a documentary film about care home life, interspersed with stop frame animations created by staff and residents which celebrate their expertise and interests. The film illustrates how we express ourselves through our skills, and how inherent they are to sense of self. Daringly Able reveals how creative activities have a positive impact on the mental health and wellbeing of care staff, residents and their families. It shows our collective responsibility towards empowering communities in care provision and towards those living with dementia so they are able maintain a sense of identity for as long as possible.
Mary Ann Marmont has lived with dementia for a decade. She astounds Jeremy with a performance of an old Italian song her mother used to sing, demonstrating how music can help those living with dementia to cope with the condition and trigger happy memories. Release date: 24 May 2017
How does engagement in participatory arts promote wellbeing and quality of life for healthy older adults? I am carrying out a review of all available evidence to find out. If you work in an organisation which runs participatory arts activity for older adults, I am interested in receiving your evaluation reports.
Since 1965, The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust (WCMT) has been funding UK citizens to investigate inspiring practice in other countries and return with innovative ideas for the benefit of people across the UK.
The King’s Fund,Comic Relief and the Big Lottery Fund have opened the application process for a unique support programme enabling charity leaders to help each other through sharing expertise and developing skills. Following a successful pilot, The King’s Fund, Comic Relief and the Big Lottery Fund have agreed to support the roll-out of the Cascading Leadership programme so that more charities can benefit. The Big Lottery Fund is investing £175,000 of National Lottery funding alongside £75,000 from Comic Relief.
A review of literature on dance and its impact physiologically and psychologically among elderly populations. Topics included general fitness and strength, balance and gait, and general psychological wellbeing such as self-confidence, social inclusion, and cognitive function. Populations assessed ranged from 50 years upwards, and included both healthy and physically and psychologically impaired cohorts. Dance styles covered included social, creative, contemporary and traditional dance.
The aim of the pilot project was to evaluate the benefits to health and wellbeing of dance and arts activities that were stimulating and developed for and with older people in Medway and Gravesend. Both physiological and psychosocial areas of health and wellbeing were assessed via pre-test and post-tests plus interviews.
The ‘Keep Singing, Keepsake Project’ (KKP) worked with older people in residential and community settings via a weekly group singing session. It aimed to strengthen social ties, reduce loneliness, improve emotional wellbeing for participants and promoting intergenerational performance. Following a literature review, focus group, two case studies and 19 interviews, researchers felt they met their aim. KKP helped participants to relax, breathe better and in some cases provides respite from serious illness.
This project develops the research findings from the 2013 pilot of the Dance for Lifelong Wellbeing project undertaken by the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) contributing to and enhancing the research base in relation to dance for older adults.
Age UK’s Wellbeing Index finds that age isn’t a barrier to living well. The Wellbeing in Later Life Index, developed by Age UK and the University of Southampton, analysed data from 15,000 people aged 60 and over to measure the wellbeing of the UK’s older population. It looked at how people were doing in different aspects of their lives under five key areas – social, personal, health, financial and environmental. Overall it showed there is no ‘magic bullet’ for positive wellbeing in later life and that instead, a whole host of factors under each of the key areas play a part in contributing to a person’s overall sense of wellbeing.
The Singing for Well-being toolkit was developed following feedback from clients and care staff from previous singing projects that described the benefits of singing with their elderly clients, especially those with dementia.
Developed from projects in care settings across Cornwall, this toolkit includes ideas, advice and inspiration to begin a dance session in ones own care setting.
Part of a series, this guide offers help and ideas for setting up and running a singing group for people with Parkinson’s.
Part of a series, this guide offers help and ideas for setting up and running a singing group for people suffering with dementia.
The aim of this series is to offer guidance on setting up and running singing groups for people with a range of enduring health issues.
The original idea for the toolkit came out of a workshop with people affected by Parkinson's. It's been written and produced by a group of creative writers affected by Parkinson's in collaboration with Parkinson's UK.
Express yourself: Your creative writing toolkit includes tips, resources and advice from people with Parkinson's to help develop your skills, explore new styles of writing, understand the publishing industry and market your work. The original idea developed from a workshop with people affected by Parkinson's. The toolkit was produced by a group of creative writers affected by Parkinson's, in collaboration with Parkinson's UK. "Each section will give you hints, tips and links to useful resources that will help you develop your skills, explore new styles of writing, understand the publishing industry and market your work. It's a tool for everyone, whether you're just starting to think about writing or you're ready to publish your first piece of prose or poetry. Dip in and out of the sections, download the worksheets, take your time and get creative!"
This online course will give any dance leader the knowledge they need to successfully integrate and manage health and safety principles.
Simon Casson is a Producer for Duckie, arts company and purveyors of progressive working class entertainment. Here he introduces Duckie’s Posh Clubs: ‘glamorous cabaret and high tea for elegant elders and swanky senior citizens’.
Youth has never necessarily been the pinnacle of an artistic career as the British Museum’s Hokusai – beyond the wave exhibition clearly shows. David Cutler reflects on how galleries, museums and arts organisations are widening opportunities for more of us to carry on participating in the visual arts into later age.
Looking at innovative approaches to improve the Health and Wellbeing of older people. Tuesday 5 & Wednesday 6 September 2017 Organised by Nottingham City Council in partnership with the Imagine Programme and supported by The Baring Foundation
National Museums Liverpool have launched a new, dementia-friendly, House of Memories website. House of Memories is National Museums Liverpool’s award-winning dementia awareness programme which offers training, access to resources, and museum-based activities to enable carers to provide person-centred care for people living with dementia.
Have a listen to some of the company chatting about our work, and the making of Beyond the Marigolds, and then come and see it at The Hawth Theatre on June 4th 7.30pm : http://zurl.co/bJz0A
What role can the arts play in keeping us healthy, for longer? How can creativity protect and enhance wellbeing and quality of life for older people? Boost your understanding of how cultural engagement can generate good health in later life and support healthy ageing by coming along to this informative panel discussion presented by London Arts in Health Forum in partnership with RADA. The panel will feature members of RADA’s Elders Company, their resident theatre company for over 60s; clinical health psychologist, Dr Paul Camic; Co-Director of Salmagundi Films, Bo Chapman; and Artistic Director of Turtle Key Arts, Charlotte Cunningham MBE.
ACE Arts and Communities Programme report The report showcases activities delivered through the Arts and Communities programme and considers what can be learnt from the variety of approaches. The report considers the significance of local authorities in the delivery of arts and cultural programmes and includes a series of case studies, tips and guidance to support the development of future programmes working to achieve similar aims.
This project theme will explore how different people living both with and without dementia respond to different experiences such as seeing art and exhibitions, handling objects or hearing music. We will measure these responses in a variety of ways including through wearable devices (eye trackers, clip-on wristbands) or by observing the way people paint an image.
David Cutler of Baring Foundation reports, 'I have been asking myself this question after participating in the excellent conference at the stunningly beautiful new Royal College of Music and Drama in Cardiff on 6th April. The conference was organised by the Arts Council Wales and Age Cymru with financial support from the Baring Foundation. It culminated with a strong endorsement from Ken Skates, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure. The day showcased arts activity from the length and breadth of the country, but clearly showed that practitioners did not want to rest on their laurels but see how this could be improved.
Baring Foundation trustee, François Matarasso, gave this talk at the Independent Creative Living Conference, Baltic, Gateshead in June 2016 on why creative agency, the ability to act as an artist, is as important in old age as in any other time of life. Three Great Human Episodes
Research Project Bridging Applied Ethnomusicology, Service Learning, Creative Aging, and Experiential Ethnography through Film
The grants are intended to support registered charities working in: • Education • Poverty relief • Recreation • Social welfare • Suppoprt of older people and disadvantaged people Previous grants have been for between £500 and £1000,000. The Hobson Charity Limited does not maintain a website. Groups should write to the Trust for further information on how to apply.
The first two case studies in the Museum Association’s new publication Museums Change Lives are of work with older people, Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery’s Dementia Partnership and Glasgow Museums’ partnership with Contact the Elderly. In the former, Audience Development Manager Jeremy Kimmel puts his finger on something crucial: ‘Museums tap into curiosity, a quality so primal that it’s one of the last things to be affected by dementia’.
The final report from Magic Me’s programme of Artists Residencies in Care Homes, in partnership with care home provider Anchor and performing arts companies including Punchdrunk Enrichment and Upswing.
A report by Glaswegian artist Sharon Goodlet, based on findings from research trips to Australia and the USA. Sharon’s travels were enabled by a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travelling Fellowship Award.
We are absolutely over-the-moon to be able to announce that we have been awarded nearly £90,000 funding from these two wonderful funders. The investment is to expand the way our digital kit, Doris, might be used more widely by older people and to explore the further creative possibilities of virtual reality technology.
Woodville Halls, Gravesend, 7.30pm The Hawth Crawley, June 4th 7.30pm Beyond the Marigolds peels off those iconic rubber gloves and dredges the nooks and crannies of daily life and fantasy. Revisiting times of love, intimacy and sheer boredom seven women reveal the rich emotional hinterland held secret by older women. Combining live and digital forms, the company takes their audience on a fragmented journey of life’s messy acts of meaning – and attempt nothing less than to discover the meaning
“NO to the society that demands we all be alike. NO to the coercion to consume and conform. NO to the poisoned world that drives its people to flee into introspection and solitude. NO to the dislocation, depression and anger this breeds. Art is for empathy. Art is for loving your brothers and your sisters and yourself. Art is for a chance to live”.
Dementia and Imagination
A Practioners Guide
This handbook is not a tool-kit of prescription exercises to deliver visual arts projects, and it’s not an evaluation guide. What it is, is a result of a research project and is intended to be used by artists and other people who plan to deliver arts-based activities with people who are living with dementia. It is a set of useful ideas and recommendations that come from a robust research project setting out some foundations for developing visual arts projects with and for, people affected by dementia. It is designed to be as accessible as possible. In it you will find information about the Dementia & Imagination project; some key ingredients for delivering research-informed visual arts projects; case studies, a set of guiding principles, reflections of people involved in the programme, and some recommendations. If you want to read about the research in detail, or find other sources of support, this handbook will direct you there.
Can art improve life for people with dementia and their carers? If so, how does it do this? And can it help people with dementia stay connected to their communities? Can it help their communities become more dementia friendly? Might there even be financial benefits for the UK? These are questions we hope to find answers to through our Dementia and Imagination research. We are looking at how art can make a difference for people with dementia living at home, being assessed by the NHS and living in care homes - and in three different parts of the UK.
Since 2010, the Baring Foundation has focused on improving older people’s quality of life through opportunities to participate in the arts. The Foundation is small and so its work aims to influence policy and practice through projects, partnerships and publications. It has supported a very wide range of work in the past six years, which is documented on its own website and the Age of Creativity website. My own work on older artists, Winter Fires, was published by the Baring Foundation in 2012, and I subsequently joined them as a trustee, which has given me more insight into the range and quality of participatory art work being done with older people, not only in the UK, but in other European countries, the USA, Japan and elsewhere.
The UK has an ageing population. Many older people in the UK experience multiple disadvantages relating to health, deprivation, isolation and ageism. Such disadvantages are not only debilitating in themselves, but can also act as barriers to participating in those social and creative activities that protect good health and wellbeing.
The role that the arts can play in supporting healthcare delivery and wellbeing has been widely acknowledged and has grown in recent decades in the UK and internationally. This edition of the engage journal explores the contribution that the visual arts can make to the environment of UK hospitals and medical centres and how engagement with the visual arts can impact on the lives of patients, staff and carers. How willing are those in the medical professions to engage with the arts, and what are the barriers to this? How can we work in partnership? What is the key current research into the benefits of arts and health projects, and what future research is needed in order to have an impact on policy?
Cymru ran a pilot action research programme across Wales focusing on galleries, the visual arts and older people. Its broad aims were to: • Increase knowledge and understanding of visual arts in galleries across Wales, for an audience who may have limited experience of art • Engage and enable participants to feel comfortable and confident in visiting galleries • Promote informal Lifelong Learning opportunities • Enhance the wellbeing of the older people participating and help combat social isolation, loneliness and boredom in older people
“What is the quality of life if it is devoid and deprived of culture, arts, libraries, museums and archaeology—the very things that open our minds and give us reasons to learn and live? Yet this is exactly what some local authorities and funders are having to face: difficult choices, creating a concept of basic services that will be supported and others which will not. I do not accept that concept.” Lord Cashman.
More and more Local Authorities and health funders are shifting from traditional grants to tendering and commissioning. As competition for arts funding increases - and statutory arts funding is cut - your organisation needs to get ‘commissioning ready.’
Live Music Now was founded 40 years ago by Yehudi Menuhin and Ian Stoutzker CBE in 1977. During that time, we have given over 70,000 interactive music sessions throughout the UK, reaching over 2.5 million people. LMN’s specialist musicians have witnessed remarkable scenes as children, older people and hospital patients have been affected by their music. There is a greater need than ever before for LMN’s work. Throughout the country, there are increasing numbers of older people living with dementia or being affected by loneliness - whether they are living independently, in care homes or in hospital. There are also great challenges faced by children with special educational needs and their families. However, there is growing recognition amongst academics and leaders in the care and education sectors that music programmes can provide measurable clinical and social benefits, whilst also providing great joy for those hardest to reach.
The Baring Foundation’s Director, David Cutler, considers the growth in theatre for and by older people.
The Journal of Population Ageing Volume 10 Issue 1 is now available online. The new issue of the Journal of Population Ageing is a collection of articles focused on the Active Ageing Index.
Double Elephant has recently completed a printmaking and painting residency at Franklyn Hospital in Exeter making designs for posters on the theme of food for display in the dining area. The work was made by older people with dementia and poor mental health. We used familiar poems and songs to trigger ideas for the designs such as "food Glorious Food" or "Sweets for my sweet, sugar for my honey"
The following funders support similar work to Edge Fund (supporting grass roots organisations), although tend to fund more formally set up groups (eg constituted or registered charity) and work that is considered ‘charitable’ (eg many would not support politically motivated/ campaign groups but may support campaigns of registered charities).
We are now open for our first funding round of the year! We will be giving £40,000 to about 30 grass-roots groups, campaigning against the systems that cause injustice. We are accepting applications from the 7th of March until the 17th April. What we fund We support work run by and for communities facing discrimination and injustice. We fund work carried out by individuals and grass-roots groups in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England that find it difficult to get funding elsewhere. We do not fund traditional charity work, instead we we support activity that challenges abuses of power and aims to change society by bringing an end to the systems that cause injustice. While applicants may be working on short term reforms, we are looking for applicants that ultimately aim to end or replace unjust systems with a just alternative.
This is a link to over 60 different charitable organisations that may offering funding to organisations like yours with similar aims and objectives
We invest in art and culture for a lasting return. We're looking for organisations, artists, events, initiatives and others to apply for our funding and help us achieve our mission of great art and culture for everyone. Use our funding finder if you're interested in applying for funding.
From immersive theatre through to a 1940s styled afternoon tea party, arts opportunities for older people received a boost today as we announced funding for 16 arts projects through our Celebrating Age programme.
Age proved no barrier to dance this week as members of the Generation Games took part in a workshop with the Rambert Dance Company.
A fascinating project is harnessing the power of the arts to unlock creativity and communication
16 cultural organisations have been awarded funding by Arts Council England to create work for and with people over 75 years old.
The £1m grant has been awarded to a project at the Centre for Performance Science, a cross-institutional partnership between the Royal College of Music (RCM) and Imperial College London, and will allow the team to explore the impact of the arts and culture from individual, social, and economic perspectives.
The 31st January 2017 saw the Dementia and Imagination team share some of the main highlights of the research programme with 106 delegates in attendance. This action-packed day was filled with research findings, film, exhibitions of work and workshops with artists. Some of the presentations from the day are available from our website:
I have been Ceramics Activities Lead at Nightingale Hammerson’s Clapham home since 2011 but pottery has been running for over 20 years among other creative activity such as painting, textiles, singing and poetry. The home is pioneering in terms of facilities and care provision; there are approximately 180 residents ranging from residential to nursing and living with dementia. In the time I been there I have been developing pottery classes and projects that are both inclusive to all and sensitive to the needs of each individual. To do this, with the support of a fantastic activity team, care staff and volunteers, I structure group classes, on-floor and one-to-one activities that always ensure I can work closely with each residents.
In April last year, Hat Fair Winchester requested pitches responding to the city council’s call for a creative project celebrating the Queen’s 90th Birthday Party. As a company, we love projects that play with theatrical conventions, break down barriers and invite the audience into the performance space but this piece was different. It had to involve older people and have a discussion about their lives at its heart. This was new territory for us.
Speculation about the seemingly magical connection between longevity and classical music abounds. Is it the intelligence associated with this level of creativity? In a study of over 49,000 creative types, Anisimov and Zharinov (2013), write that “persons who listen to classic music have more chance to live longer”. They attribute this to the intriguing and persistent findings surrounding the cognitive capabilities of classic musicians.
Starting the Culture, Kopi and Kueh pilot programme was an almost serendipitous process. Over the past two years, the Peranakan Museum (TPM) has received an increasing number of requests for guided tours from persons with disability, schools for children with special needs, nursing homes and other eldercare facilities. The last group is a reflection of Singapore’s changing population demographics and global trends that is only going to get larger with time.
Have you ever thought about sharing your experiences with your peers? We need to know your highs, lows and tips on helping us to improve wellbeing for older people through the arts.
Blog by David Cutler, Director, The Baring Foundation 22/02/2017 Age UK has brought out its first Index of Wellbeing in Later Life. ‘Wellbeing’ is hard to define but elements include, a pleasurable life, sense of purpose, independence and dignity – in other words the life that we would want for ourselves and therefore the life everyone else deserves too.
This report explains why the Baring Foundation funds arts and older people activity and what it has supported for the first five years of the programme.
This report updates Joe Randall’s ground-breaking paper for the Foundation on digital arts and older people. Based on interviews with artists and ten new case studies it looks at new opportunities such as self-directed activity, personalised care and scaling up of work.
This guide has been produced by a working group chaired by David Cutler, the Director of the Baring Foundation. It has been written by a group of people with practical experience of making arts and cultural venues dementia friendly
This report, by Kate Organ, maps the growing phenomenon of Older People’s Theatre Companies throughout the UK and puts this exciting development in the context of broader developments in older people’s participation in professional and amateur theatre.
This publication, edited by Daniel Baker, from Cubitt largely draws together a series of contributions to a one day conference funded by the Baring Foundation in 2014.
Not So Cut Off is a new publication from the Arts Council Northern Ireland funded by the Baring Foundation. It gathers evidence from case studies funded by our joint Arts and Older People project on the benefits of participation in the arts for isolated older people.
West Yorkshire Playhouse has been leading the way in dementia-friendly performances. We have funded this new in-depth guide based on their unique experience to inspire more venues to take up this opportunity across the UK.
The Baring Foundation has had a three year collaboration with colleagues in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. Along with a call to action and essays from experts this publication gives a rich series of case studies from the four countries themed by practice, research, training and policy.
A Men’s Shed is a larger version of the typical man’s shed in the garden – a place where he feels at home and pursues practical interests with a high degree of autonomy. A Men’s Shed offers this to a group of such men where members share the tools and resources they need to work on projects of their own choosing at their own pace and in a safe, friendly and inclusive venue. They are places of skill-sharing and informal learning, of individual pursuits and community projects, of purpose, achievement and social interaction. A place of leisure where men come together to work.
Short film about ACE funded arts project and 2 day event for C&C's older residents. C&C is a Registered Social Landlord based in London. This project, 'My Front Door' took inspiration from the life and history of C&C's founder Mrs Chesterton combined with memories and stories of C&C's residents. The two day event was part of C&C's 90th anniversary celebrations and took place in a sheltered scheme for older people in Maida Vale. The programme included film, creative writing, installations, photography, ceramics as well as choir, dance and drama performances, all created by C&C residents.
House of Memories is an award-winning training programme, which supports the carers of people living with dementia. It provides participants with information about dementia and equips them with the practical skills and knowledge to facilitate a positive quality of life experience for people living with dementia. Find out more about the House of Memories programme.
We are inviting carers, family members, friends and community volunteers to the Museum of Liverpool and our museum partners across England to find out more about dementia and the useful resources and activities museums can provide to support you and your loved ones. The free half-day dementia awareness workshop is specially developed for family carers. It will include an introduction to dementia through video stories to help understand the experience of living with dementia and being a carer. There will be an opportunity to try out our innovative My House of Memories app and take part in dementia-friendly museum activities. Dates will be publicised later in 2017.
We believe that museums and older people enrich each other. We aim to develop innovative and collaborative opportunities by bringing people together. As well as museum, galleries and arts professionals, the Network includes those from health and social care, voluntary sector, research professionals and older people themselves.
This report is an evaluation of a pilot programme.
The role that the arts can play in supporting individual mental health and wellbeing has been widely acknowledged, while research in the fields of arts and health has grown in recent decades both in the UK and internationally. Despite a growing acceptance of the benefits of engagement in the arts by clinicians, medical staff, carers and patients, sustained research programmes crossing the interface between arts and health remain a contested field. The two sectors do not necessarily share the same values, language, working methods or evaluation techniques. Nevertheless, the landscape is changing, with health providers across the UK realising the benefits of such interventions, thus embedding arts programmes in their service provision.
A review of many schemes in the UK and elsewhere.
Good mental health is key to achieving our potential, as it contributes to good physical health, relationships, education and work. In the UK, mental health problems affect one in four adults every year and account for 23% of the total burden of disease, yet only 13% of the NHS budget is allocated to their treatment. Considering this, alongside the large economic burden of mental illness (estimated as up to £100 billion annually in England), the clinical and economic need to invest in improving our nation’s mental health is evident.
The University of Winchester were commissioned ti complete a six month research-based review of Elevate, an art based programme that had been running in Salisbury hospital since September 2013. The evaluation was carried out between June and November 2014. The aim was to find out the different aspects of the impact of Elevate on the patients, the hospital staff and the artists.
Welcome to our funding finder. Browse our funding programmes and take a closer look at key information, including key dates and eligibility criteria.
This report outlines the processes and findings of an investigation into the value of cultural practices in engendering social capital and health and wellbeing in three coastal towns undergoing culture-led regeneration.
The centre is now fully active in researching the potential for dance to impact on both wellbeing and specific conditions.
Investigating the benefits of singing for people with dementia.
Together with our working group members, our investigation into singing in care homes has created and amassed a large amount of material. We have distilled our learnings from this material into these 10 Headlines.
Research on benefits of singing for older people. The Sidney De Haan centre has conducted large scale surveys of choral singers and the world’s first randomised control trial for singing and older people alongside other research related to the benefits of singing.
The aim of the project was to captures peoples’ imaginations through a campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of creativity for mental wellbeing.
A report to the Department for Culture Media and Sport
This prospectus produced jointly by the Department of Health and Arts Council England celebrates and promotes the benefits of the arts in improving everyone’s wellbeing, health and healthcare, and its role in supporting those who work in and with the National Health Service. The prospectus shows that the arts can, and do, make a major contribution to key health and wider community issues.
A new report, published by Arts for Health at Manchester Metropolitan University on Thursday 12 February 2015, reveals that engaging with the arts and culture generally has a positive long-term effect on health and wellbeing.
An evaluator demonstrates ‘creativity’ every time they view an evaluation problem from a fresh perspective, or devises an evaluation approach tailored to a particular context. While creativity is very definitely not just the province of artists or the arts, there is a growing interest in the use of evaluation methods that use film and visual arts, poetry and creative writing, music, drama and performing arts. Arts-based methods can be particularly powerful in uncovering hidden perspectives and in empowering participants. They may also be less intrusive than more clinically-based evaluation tools as they can be inspired by and modeled on the intervention itself. They also involve a number of challenges. For example, the results you get from them (pictures, performances or poems for example) are by nature difficult to interpret and you may require technical skills that are not a part of standard evaluation.
The approach you take to an evaluation will depend on what you want to find out. You will choose the approach that suits your project, your stakeholders and the resources and skills available to you. You may feel that you need to evidence your work using the language and methods used by those who are commissioning or funding you. However, it may be that the outcomes you want to demonstrate cannot usefully be addressed in this way. Co-producing an evaluation with commissioners and funders and involving them in identifying aims and suitable outcomes, will help to make sure that you understand each other from the outset.
The approach you take to an evaluation will depend on what you want to find out. You will choose the approach that suits your project, your stakeholders and the resources and skills available to you. You may feel that you need to evidence your work using the language and methods used by those who are commissioning or funding you. However, it may be that the outcomes you want to demonstrate cannot usefully be addressed in this way. Co-producing an evaluation with commissioners and funders and involving them in identifying aims and suitable outcomes, will help to make sure that you understand each other from the outset.
One of the first tasks of every arts and health project is to identify the outcomes and impacts it seeks to achieve. Without some kind of evaluation, we cannot know whether arts and health projects achieve their aims and it is difficult to learn about what went well and what needs to be improved in future practice. However, it is important that arts and health projects do not lose sight of their artistic aims during this process. The process of developing evaluation frameworks and strategies should be led by the core values of each organisation or project. Evaluation also needs to be informed by a theory of change, or the understanding of the physiological, psychological, emotional and social processes by which arts activities and interventions are thought to be linked with outputs and outcomes. Evaluation can seem like a minefield for practitioners and arts organisations, especially those at an early stage of development.
Creative & Credible supports arts and health organisations and practitioners to: engage with evaluation creatively improve your practice make well-informed spending decisions strengthen the evidence base around the benefits and impacts of arts and health projects
Innovators are passionate about and committed to their goals, which compels them to persist physically and mentally. They never quit and continue even when they experience challenges, setbacks, or failures, which is the biggest difference between innovators and non-innovators.
The Wellbeing Index report, from Age UK and the University of Southampton, found that while many factors combine to create wellbeing, keeping engaged in social and cultural activities, being financially secure and taking exercise helps people feel good as they age.
Some of Winchester’s oldest residents have shared their life stories to shape an unusual new theatre performance that explores what it’s like to be an older person in contemporary Britain.
Teabooks from Bookfeast have produced an evaluation of its scheme to Book groups to older people in Oxfordshire
Are you looking to have a go at glass-making? Get along to the latest exhibition? Perhaps you’re searching the local listings for arts activities you can take your toddler to. You choose - there are lots of opportunities open to you. But what happens to that choice as we get older?
New research report into current practice in older people's dance, published by People Dancing and co-commissioned by Aesop, was launched at the House of Lords on 7 November 2016.
Churchill Fellowship Film
Using books to help people cope with mental, physical and emotional problems is gaining traction
f older people were able to enhance all their relationships through storytelling imagine what an enjoyable opportunity it would create.
This report shows many health and care services in England are providing good quality care, despite a challenging environment, but substantial variation remains.
The research could still use an upgrade in many areas. But what we know so far should cheer any arts advocate.
An evening organised by older people for older people.
Scottish Ballet is spearheading a ground-breaking 18 month pilot Dance for Parkinson’s Scotland programme, delivered in partnership with Dance Base.
Some time ago Aesop identified the need for an evaluation framework for arts for health and wellbeing. A version for researchers was developed and published in the international journal, Arts and Health, in 2014. Thanks to a commission from Public Health England, a version for practitioners is now available.
An estimated 120,000 people now take part in the Bealtaine Festival, making it one of Ireland’s biggest arts festivals. From dance to cinema, painting to theatre, Bealtaine showcases the talents and creativity of both first-time and professional older artists. It is a chance for people to make new and challenging work, a chance to communicate traditions between the generations. It is a chance for the novice to discover a talent until then unseen and a chance for a long-dormant skill to find a new outlet.
Happy feet: how a dance prescription saved my life...
The Moving Memory Dance Theatre Company developed Digital Doris to overcome the challenges older people face during movement-based workshops held in residential care homes and day care centres. These included physical limitations, like short-term memory loss and mobility problems, plus the venues’ limited space.
Elixir Festival celebrated lifelong creativity and the contribution of older artists. Over four illuminating days, the festival featured a range of performances on Sadler's Wells' main stage and in the Lilian Baylis Studio.
Not too sure how to go about getting the best from your social media, then this guide is for you.
Events are moments for residents to enjoy. Award-winning activities and volunteers coordinator Tamara Juckes shares her advice on making sure they are a success.
Too many urban spaces are daunting to older people. But Lyon and Manchester show that they needn’t be.
Researchers at Heriot-Watt and Strathclyde universities claim that physiological degeneration in the connections between cells in the frontal lobe means that older people are allegedly flummoxed by new-fangled things such as taps that you pull rather than twist.
Lovely film from Equal Arts
Research shows that arts and culture can help to improve health, wellbeing and quality of life for people ages 65 and above.
At the first session with the patients, none of us, not even the therapists, really knew what we were doing or what was going to happen. I was very nervous. The instruments looked like the ones we had used at school and I was worried that it would be a bit demeaning. But by the end of the session, we’d structured this incredible piece of music and that suddenly made me realise what this could potentially do.
There is an invaluable charitable organisation in the UK called Paintings In Hospitals (PiH). By providing therapy and escapism through the medium of the visual arts they offer an alternative aspect to a patients care as well as solace and entertainment to visitors and the care professionals themselves. Established in London in 1959, Paintings in Hospitals works across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Arts Therapists & practitioners take your clients on a journey through world museums many of which offer virtual and online tours of their collections...
As part of the House of Memories programme you can borrow 'memory suitcases' which contain objects, memorabilia and photographs to help engagement with people being caring for.
If you’ve got the Monday blues today, media mythology has it that you’re not alone. Today is ‘officially’ known as the ‘most depressing day of the year’, although sources across the web will all cite slightly different origin stories for what we now know of as ‘Blue Monday’.
Nottingham’s Imagine - arts and older people programme is offering an exciting training session for artists and staff working in the care sector. As part of the Imagine programme we have been exploring the use of iPads to create art with older people in care.
Being 'creative' and 'open' boosts wellbeing in later life Age UK's Wellbeing Index finds that age isn't a barrier to living well. The Wellbeing in Later Life Index, developed by Age UK and the University of Southampton, analysed data from 15,000 people aged 60 and over to measure the wellbeing of the UK's older population. Interestingly however, the Index found that taking part in 'creative activities' such as the arts had the most direct influence in improving a person's wellbeing in later life. The activities that older people took part in included dancing, playing a musical instrument, visiting museums, photography, singing, painting and writing.
In the last few years I have been privileged to work alongside patients experiencing dementia and memory loss at Franklyn Hospital in Exeter and at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth. Working at Franklyn Hospital with occupational therapist Caroline Clarke, we have found printmaking to be a great way to engage patients in art making. It is very accessible and utilises skills that we all have - such as cutting, sticking, simple design, working with paper, ink and colour. In particular, for men, we have found that the use of a printing press - simple machinery has inspired memory and encouraged participation.
Esmee Ward: Recently I was invited by the British Council and Hong Kong Arts Adminstrators to speak about ambition for arts and ageing at a Cultural Leadership summit in Hong Kong. Alongside my presentation, I led a workshop with arts professionals, exploring how organisations might become more age and dementia friendly and perhaps most exciting of all, I also ran a workshop with a group of local older people in an arts venue in North Point, HK. Garry Robson, Artistic Director of Birds of Paradise Theatre, a hugely respected director and innovator, also spoke at the conference about his experiences and work with disability arts in the UK and globally. The theme was Social Gains through Arts and it explored the ambition and aspiration amongst arts leaders to extend partnerships above and beyond the cultural sector and work collaboratively for wider social impact.
Stories are vitally important to people. Facilitating people’s stories is my job in a variety of settings. Sometimes this is with people exploring themes in later life.
Moving Memory Dance Theatre Company is a well-established company that offers workshop and performance opportunities for older women. Participants (most of whom have never experienced any training in dance or theatre) have the opportunity to try out new dance-theatre based skills and make high quality performance projects alongside professional artists.
Arts 4 Dementia offers challenging arts programmes for people in the early stages of dementia as well as providing a website that lists arts events across the country and training facilitators in early stage dementia awareness. A4D focuses on what people can achieve, often very much more than they imagine as our recent workshop series at St Mary The Boltons church shows.
This is a really helpful guide. It provides links to a huge range of relevant information sources,data and facts about older people. It has an excellent section on how to develop library and information services strategies for older people – which means we don’t have to start at the very beginning. It also includes a useful checklist.
Over the past four years Jacksons Lane has developed a participation and outreach department that has increased our engagement across North London in areas such as Tottenham, Wood Green and part of Barnet. We have achieved lots with young people however a big focus of the work has been with older people. This has been an amazing and positive learning experience for us too.
I often feel I have had several careers in dance: early years as a ballet dancer; then studying and teaching at the London School of Contemporary Dance in its early days; then forming the X6 Collective and plunging into new dance practices like contact improvisation and release technique; then founding Chisenhale Dance Space with another collective and meanwhile working regularly as a solo performer, freelance choreographer and Associate Director (Movement) for the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester; and finally, in 1987, setting up Green Candle Dance Company.
The suggestion of a tea party came initially from a member of clinical staff on one of the elderly care wards, as she had seen how the Elevate programme delivers bespoke creative activity for patients, responding personally to an individual and getting to the heart of the person through the arts.
Cornwall Museums Partnership is a charity which promotes collaborative working to help more people enjoy and explore Cornwall’s rich heritage. In our remote, rural region access to culture is a challenge for many, in particular older people. In 2016 we supported three museums to work collaboratively with artists, each museum using their collections as inspiration. We wanted to create more opportunities for older people to be inspired.
Japan has a long tradition of cultural and artistic appreciation, from tea ceremonies and flower arrangement, to unique forms of theater and dance. For many older people, post-retirement life offers a chance to pursue their creative interests with renewed vigor, sometimes revisiting past hobbies or learning something new.
In early 2015 I was awarded a Fellowship from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and in Autumn 2015 I travelled to North America where I spent 6 weeks looking at the value of creative expression for elders. During my trip, I visited 6 cities and 24 art-based programmes for older adults and/or people with dementia. This report covers where I went and what I saw and the key findings from each of my four areas of research: Storytelling & Poetry, Intergenerational Programmes, Museum & Gallery Programmes & Visual Arts. It also explores the factors I believe organisations who undertake creative work with elders should be aware of and how participation in the arts can positively enhance the lives of older adults.
Art in Mind started in 2013 when The Lightbox ran a series of pilot sessions, funded by a one off grant.Lightbox took its model from training and research carried out by Arts4Dementia and adapted it for our own particular style and needs. The pilot sessions proved very successful and some of those initial participants still attend regularly. Many remember the sessions, despite other memory problems.
The ‘Appleby Tate’ is an incredible gallery space that has been created to display all of the fantastic artwork created in Art Sessions by the residents. Creative Minds have been delivering Art Sessions to Appleby House for nearly 2 years now, and the residents most of whom have dementia, have created wonderful art, crafts and sculpture over that time.
A personal account of the 2016 Art of Good Health and Wellbeing conference in Sydney by Evan Dawson, Executive Director of Live Music Now
This new guide from the US outlines ways to reconcile the field-specific vocabularies used in the arts and health research; identifies study goals and methods for engaging community members as equal partners in a research project; and highlights the benefits of partnering for arts professionals and researchers.
Moving Memory Dance Theatre use movement, music, spoken word and digital projection as ways of revealing and presenting peoples’ stories.
A new book by Dovrat Harel.
An estimated 5.4 million Americans currently suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. Clinical trials and other research are in the works to figure out what causes it and what can potentially limit its effects. Music therapy is considered to be a method of dealing with Alzheimer’s, without truly treating or curing it. And there’s more work being done in the area of art therapy.
This video from Bolton Dementia Support shows how you can do much for people with dementia without it costing a fortune.
The project, devised by artist Jill Impey and funded by Arts Council England, connects 10-20 year olds and those over 65, to explore and share, thoughts and experiences of war and peace. Participants are introduced to a range of creative and expressive processes. They are guided to interpret stimuli from a travelling collection of contemporary artworks, which reference the 1930’s period between world wars. Recordings of their responses form part of a live touring interactive artwork, alongside curated, archive and personal artefacts, an installation of origami butterflies, and a cabinet of resonant curiosities.
The Yapp Charitable Trust makes grants for running costs and salaries to small registered charities in England and Wales to help sustain their existing work.
The large majority of Wolfson Foundation funding is allocated for capital infrastructure, which we define as new build, refurbishment or equipment. Almost all of its open programmes are solely for capital projects. It does, however, also have a number of carefully targeted programmes funding individuals through academic awards (such as Wolfson Research Professorships and Wolfson Merit Awards) as well as scholarship or bursary programmes.
The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation (BSCF) was established in 1960 with the trustees aim to help raise the quality of life, particularly for those who are young, disadvantaged or elderly. Each year grants totaling about £2.5 million are made to a wide range of charities. The BSCF continues to be a family charitable foundation with the majority of trustees being family members, knowledgeable in their fields and dedicated to public service, supported by talented independent trustees.
The Sobell Foundation was established by the late Sir Michael Sobell in 1977 for general charitable purposes and is a grant-making trust with which he was actively involved until shortly before his death in 1993. The deed of charitable trust, under which the Sobell Foundation was formed, is not specific about the objects of the Trust and allows the Trustees absolute discretion to apply funds for general charitable purposes. Grants tend to be made in line with the founder’s interests which are principally causes benefiting children, the sick, elderly, needy and disabled. The Trustees aim to achieve a reasonable spread between Jewish charities (operating principally in the U.K. and Israel) and non-Jewish charities operating in the UK.
The Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts is the operating office of 17 different independent grant-making trusts established by members of three generations of the Sainsbury family. It exists to provide economies of scale in the management of the trusts’ activities. It does not make grants; only the individual trusts do so. The trusts’ support for charitable causes over more than 50 years represents one of the leading examples of sustained philanthropy in Britain.
In a society becoming more complex and diverse every day we see the growth of incomprehension, insularity, intolerance and exclusion. The Rayne Foundation helps and encourages inspiring individuals and organisations who can help build bridges within our complex world. It aims to enlarge sympathies through increasing tolerance and understanding, to reduce exclusion and conflict, to bring people together for the good of society, and ultimately to help create a more comprehending and cohesive world.
Inspired by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales’s values of harmony and sustainability, the Charitable Foundation aims to transform lives and build sustainable communities. This is achieved locally through supporting causes such as community projects, nationally through grants to charities such as Plantlife International, The Prince’s Trust, Soil Association and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust and globally through the Charitable Foundation’s International Sustainability Unit.
The Foundation aims to be responsive to where need is greatest. It supports a wide range of charitable activity rather than having specific priorities for funding or regional bias. The Trustees support excellence and, rather than predetermining where funds should be given, prefer to respond on a flexible basis to organisations that can show that they are addressing a need and that their work is high quality.
The Hospital Saturday Fund is a registered Charity whose aims are to provide assistance through its charitable funds for: Individuals with a medical condition or disability who would benefit from assistance with the purchase of specialised equipment or from practical forms of treatment Registered health charities such as hospitals, hospices, medical organisations who are in need of grants for medical projects, care, research or support of medical training within the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.
Esmee Fairbairn fund across four main sectors – Arts, Children and Young People, Environment and Social Change – as well as through its Food funding strand. Across all its funding it aims to unlock and enable potential, back the unorthodox and unfashionable, build collective networks and catalyse system change.
This Trust supports maintaining active living and independence for older people
The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust funds United Kingdom Registered Charities operating in the UK in the fields of the advancement of the arts, health and medical welfare and environmental protection or improvement.
CHK Charities offer 1) One Off Grants 2) Conditionally Renewable Grants 3) Large Grants over £25
The Trustees of The Concertina Charitable Trust have granted funds to over 300 charitable organisations in England and Wales.
The Prosper programme will be open to 70 organisations across England, funded by Arts Council England and delivered by Creative United, the Arts Marketing Association (AMA) and the Centre for Business in Society (CBiS at Coventry University). A timetable for applications and regional launch events will be announced early this year.
This book shows that global population ageing is an opportunity to improve the quality of human life rather than a threat to economic competitiveness and stability. It describes the concept of the creative ageing policy as a mix of the silver economy, the creative economy, and the social and solidarity economy for older people.
Economic Foundations for Creative Aging Policy offers public policy ideas to construct positive answers for ageing populations. This
This report advocates the use of arts as a means to achieving excellence in the care home environment.
When the musician Hannah Peel began to lose her gran to dementia, she fought back – with song. The results were so overwhelming, they grew into a vast musical exploration.
Sir Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome siad 'The dementia challenge will not be resolved by the natural sciences alone. It will also require progress in social care.’ What follows in this research and evaluation report, conducted by the Centre for Research into Reading, Information and Linguistic Systems at the University of Liverpool, deals with what cannot be resolved by the natural sciences alone.It concerns an intervention based on the reading-aloud of literature in a series of older people’s care settings, and carried out through the work of The Reader Organisation and its Get Into Reading project. It should be stressed that this is not simply a matter of reading to the people who attend these groups: the aim is to encourage active human involvement at both individual and social levels.
Dementia toolkit for small and medium sized museums.
It has been shown that participating in arts activities is extremely beneficial for older people with dementia, improving such things as communication, memory, enjoyment of life and creative thinking. Read the Baring Report for more details.
Canadian psychologists from McGill niversity have shown that the neurochemical benefits of music can boost the body’s immune system, reduce anxiety, and help regulate mood.
This document provides effective ways to document and evaluate arts projects and programmes that seek to improve health and wellbeing.
Evaluating the impact of dance activities for people in different stages of dementia.
Read the latest report on the impact of a project in Oxfordshire that provides book groups for over-60s as a means of combatting loneliness, lack of stimulation and social isolation.
A new report into the state of the social care sector has advocated the use of the arts as a means of care homes achieving excellence. The Care Quality Commission report says that “making best use of the arts to find creative and innovative ways to enable people to have a fuller life” is key to care homes delivering the best service for older people.
The Wellcome Trust has unveiled a new programme of funding for engaging the public in conversations about health-related science and research. The new Public Engagement Fund replaces the Trust’s Society, People, Large Arts, Small Arts, Development, Co-production, Capital and International Engagement Awards.
Cultures of Nature and Wellbeing is a new 2-year AHRC funded research project exploring links between literature, health and environmentalism over the last century. It will look at current research into nature and wellbeing and the role of the arts and humanities in developing this relationship.
Researchers have identified a link between everyday creative activity and an “upward spiral” of increased wellbeing and creativity in young adults.
The Government-led Libraries Taskforce has published its ambitions for libraries citing their role in helping people live “healthier and happier lives” as a priority.
A systematic review has shown that music and singing activities can enhance and maintain subjective wellbeing in healthy adults. He research by the What Works Centre for Wellbeing demonstrates a range of positive impacts on wellbeing on different groups of adults.
Arts activities have been cited as a key tool in preventing dementia in guidance prepared for health commissioners. Group cognitively stimulating leisure activities including arts activities are declared as the only social intervention proven to work in helping to reduce the risk of dementia.
The Arts Council are currently involved in a crowd funding pilot, in collaboration with HLF and Nesta. It has invested £125,000 to help support individual artists with a proven track record looking to work in new ways, reach new audiences or develop their artistic practice. The artists create a fundraising project page on the Crowdfunder website, and once they reach 25% of their target (which must come from five unique backers) the funding is topped up by a further 25%. Artists must be looking to raise between £4,000 and £40,000.
For over 20 years there has been a focus and investment by the cultural sector to provide participatory learning activities for children and young people and programmes which target families. But over the same period research supporting the impact of arts on older people has also continued to emerge.
A robust set of research suggests that participatory arts activities are effective mechanisms for increasing the health and quality of life of aging individuals.
This beautiful 30 minute film **Parkinson Dances** is about contemporary dance in the treatment of Parkinson’s. It deals honestly with the emotional impact of diagnosis and the effects of PD.
A new research report into current practice in older people's dance, published by People Dancing and co-commissioned by Aesop, was launched at the House of Lords on 7 November 2016. The report provides a snapshot of current practice in older people’s dance.
The National Museums of Liverpool want House of Memories to become a central dementia awareness training resource for the health and social care sector.
The House of Memories is an innovative training programme that is making a real difference to health and social care staff and the people with dementia they care for.
Arts on Prescription, sometimes know as Arts on Referral, is a type of social prescribing. In social prescribing there is a referral process whereby health or social care practitioners refer people to a service or a source of support.
The report shows the results of a six-month research programme to evaluate the long-term relationship between arts participation and physical/psychological health have been published.
This report highlights key learning from the project, Creativity in Care, which included an artist’s residency, mentoring for activity co-ordinators and several training events.
The Baring Foundation commissioned this review to provide evidence about the benefits of art activities and to support arts organisations to improve their work with older people.
Research from Finland has shown that listening to music in the early stages after a stroke can improve a patient's recovery, speeding recovery of memory and attention skills, and generating a more positive general frame of mind.
Over 200 participants over the age of 60 took part. Half were allocated to one of five singing groups, meeting weekly over a period of twelve weeks. The other half acted as a control group.
‘Shall We Dance?’ is a project, funded by FEAST and managed by Arts for Health Cornwall and The Works Theatre and Dance Agency. It was developed in order to increase the opportunities for older people to access dance with the aim of improving their holistic health and sense of well being.
The project is an evaluation of the ‘ArtLift’ scheme, which seeks to provide arts activity in health care settings as a form of support for people with common problems such as depression and anxiety. The evaluation uses mixed methods including questionnaires and focus groups to identify outcomes and impacts of the scheme on patients and staff.
This 30 minute film **Parkinson Dances** is about contemporary dance in the treatment of Parkinson’s. It deals honestly with the emotional impact of diagnosis and the effects of PD. It shows not only the physical benefits of dance as exercise but also the emotional release which the participants (who include carers) achieve as they movingly express their feelings in movement. It is filmed and edited by a team from the University of Bournemouth.
The UCL Museum Wellbeing Measures Toolkit is a set of scales of measurement used to assess levels of wellbeing arising from participation in museum and gallery activities that has been trialed across the UK.
Research has proved the devastating effects on health and well-being of social isolation and that is worst among older men. The arts have a great ability to tackle loneliness, as well as give meaning and pleasure. This is a guide to how to reach this group.
This evidence review is part of a series produced by Age UK, in order to provide evidence to underpin decision-making for people involved in commissioning, service development, fundraising and influencing.
If you are interested in Arts on Prescription, increasingly used by the health service, have a read of Arts & Health South West Fact Sheets - it's a great start.
This paper shows what is distinctive about working with older people using creative technology. It outlines some of that digital artists face, identifies challenges and how to explore them.
The film shows the importance of music for older people. It portrays a social worker, Dan Cohen, in his quest to give older people access to their favourite music. The film won the 2014 Sundance Documentary Audience Award.
Care home residents participate in the Armchair Gallery project as part of the Imagine arts and older people's programme,increasing their access to digital arts.Care home residents have been taking part in the Armchair Gallery project as part of the Imagine arts and older people's programme,increasing their access to digital arts.
The Acting Up report documents the value of older people focusing on activities to keep themselves mentally & physically connected and the importance of promoting a positive image of older adults and their value in building healthy and equal communities.
The Art of Commissioning How commissioners can release the potential of the arts and cultural sector
Oxford Concert Party recently completed an intergeneration cross-arts project with the aim to engage in music, poetry and storytelling with two professional musicians and a poet/storyteller, inspired by objects in the Ashmoleum Museum
Men in Museums is a collaborative approach to get more older men out and about and enjoying the company of others, through museum visits.
Fergus Early's OBE, Green Candle, report on his innovative dance project with older people.
An European creative music and dance partnership with older people working with a composer and musicians to compose music on the theme of connections.
A wonderful project delivered in county Durham by Mental health charity RTProjects showing the link between creativity and Dementia being used for positive effect. Inspirational.
Arts Council England recently published compelling findings about the positive effects of the arts on the happiness and well-being of older people. Read on for the key findings.
The Baring Foundation and Arts Council of Northern Ireland commissioned research work into how the Arts and Older People Programme projects have tackled isolation and loneliness.
The Cultural Commissioning Programme works with the arts and cultural sector, commissioners and policy makers to strengthen commissioning of arts and culture, to deliver better outcomes for people and communities. See it's new website,
DANCE WELL webinar took place on 25th May 2016. Fergus Early OBE* from Green Candle Dance Company was interviewed by Paul Cann, Chief Executive of Age UK Oxfordshire about the joys and challenges of dancing with older people.
'Anniversary' is a piece of contemporary theatre created by a group of older performers for audiences of all ages.
This small publication shares and celebrates the work of a three year project led by Artlink that brought people with sight and hearing loss together with artists to develop innovative collaborative work that explored how their experiences can inform work which is accessible to all.
Moving Memory Dance Theatre members talk about what the company means to them.
BED, watch what happens when an older person is lefft in a bed in the middle of a busy thoroughfare.
Art-based digital interventions have been shown to be beneficial for the well-being of people with dementia and their caregivers.
This dementia toolkit has been written to help small museums design their own wellbeing programmes, and is based on a project undertaken with that same thought in mind.
Understanding the experience of group singing for couples where one partner has a diagnosis of dementia
Museum activities in dementia care: Using visual analog scales to measure subjective wellbeing.
Evaluation report for reminiscence and visual arts and crafts project in care homes
City Arts has been exploring digital arts with a number of different care homes in Nottingham over the last couple of years.
Our HenPower project cultivates creativity in care settings at a time in life when most people are slowing down, and not stepping into wellies or making masterpieces.
Museum object handling groups in older adult mental health in patient care
The Ryedale Songs & Scones programme provides isolated older with a monthlyinformal performance by Live Music Now followed by a time to socialise over tea and cake.
The benefits of reading are spelled out in these two links.
Linger is an example of verbal description and poetry creatively combined to provide access and new perspectives on a space. to evocatively describe the Portrait Gallerys Great Hall. A documentary sharing Artlinks creative process and responses from visually impaired individuals is available here.
Age Friendly Museums Day 2015 Care Home residents are made welcome at the British Museum.
Creative Future has completed Arts Council England funded research into the barriers marginalised and disabled artists face when accessing mainstream arts opportunities.
Laura Mackenzie reports on her visit to N America where she learnt about the value of creative engagement for older people, visting innovative projects and undertaking training in new techniques.
Photography and storytelling: people with early stage dementia's experiences explored
A unique project where people living with dementia and their carers created an animated film based on their experiences of being part of a weekly walking group
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital patients have been participating in various performing arts activities at the hospital, including Memory Lane and Memory Lane Training Programme
This important document by the Alzheimer's Society was written by a group of practitioners chaired by the Baring Foundation and comes with the endorsement of the Arts Council England. It is written to be relevant for venues big and small and across all art forms.
An indepth study of The Royal Exchange, Elders Company of poeple 60+ developing performance skills and making boundary-pushing theatre while also challenging stereotypes of ageing.
A update on digital arts and creative ageing by Joe Randall using ten exciting new case studies of developing practice. The report shows that digital arts have a very important role to play in self-directed arts, scale, and personalised care.
Arts for Health Cornwall and Isles of Scilly have released a training resource that supports staff and carers in organising and leading music sessions for elderly clients.
This review contextualises the role participatory arts play for people living with dementia and provides an overview of some of the art forms that are most widely used, from storytelling to signing to museums.
Arts and Minds ran at the Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery providing creative opportunities for isolated people living with mild to moderate dementia and their carers.
This research is based on four projects in which older women used participatory arts to enable them to articulate their experiences of ageing, and to create alternative images of ageing.
Kate Organ, Arts Adviser to the Baring Foundation, reflects on a recent British Council Study Tour to Japan to explore Arts in an Ageing Society.
Sign up to Funding Central a free website for charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises which provides free information on funding and fundraising, including a searchable database of funding opportunities.
This study sought to better understand how programs at contemporary and traditional art galleries might play a role in the lives of people with dementia.
The birth of Japan's first dementia friendly community has led to awareness of the needs of older people and the development of imaginative, open and inclusive appraoches to supporting the needs of a rapidly changing demographic.
Dance in Devon began a project giving older people in residential care access to a quality arts experience as participants and audiences. This film tells of one person's experience of the programme.
Read the evaluation of Green Candle Dance Company pilot Uplift! a dance and live music project.
Knitted Lives offered women between 60 - 93 the opportunity to work with 2 textile artists and a writer to produce a total of 125 three-dimensional knitted objects representing stories from their lives.
The Age of Creativity is a network of professionals and organisations that thrives by working in partnership. If you’re specialism is and your work supports older people to enjoy improved health, wellbeing and quality of life through the arts and culture, then your website could feature here for free. If you provide information on your website that our national network could benefit from then we really need to connect up so get in touch today.”
