Creative Journeys Report 2019

10 Creative Journeys The wider partnership for the project reported here also included three national arts organisations: Sinfonia Viva with Orchestras Live, Green Candle Dance Company and Age Exchange (profiled in the section on Arts Activities below) and an independent research group led by and for older people called the Older People’s Research Group, Essex (OPRGE). The partnership therefore brought a wide range of expertise to the project and included arts practitioners, academics and older citizens. The UK population is ageing, with the number of people aged over 65 totalling just below 12 million people. This represents 18.2 per cent of the total population and is over 2.2 million more than in 2007 (Office for National Statistics, 2017). The majority of long-term care for older people in the UK is provided by staff working in care homes. Approximately 416,000 people live in care homes (LaingBuisson, 2016). This is 4 per cent of the population aged 65 years and over, rising to 16 per cent of those aged 85 or more (National Institute for Health Research, 2019). Care homes are places where people with complex health needs live; it is their home, and quality of life matters. The National Standards for Care Homes, developed by the Care Quality Commission (2010), specified that care should make a difference to health and well-being. This suggests that in addition to meeting basic physical needs, quality care should treat older people as individuals and enhance their quality of life (Fraser, Bungay and Munn-Giddings, 2014). Loneliness and social isolation are known to have a negative impact on well-being and quality of life (Windle, Francis and Coomber, 2011). Based on a definition first suggested by Perlman and Peplau in 1981 loneliness is defined in the new Loneliness Strategy from Her Majesty’s (HM) Government (2018) as “a subjective, unwelcome feeling of lack or loss of companionship. It happens when we have a mismatch between the quantity and quality of social relationships we have and those we want” (p.18). Loneliness therefore can be described as the difference between desired and achieved levels of social interaction whereas social isolation is the result of separation from normal social networks; and both may be prevalent in care home settings. Participation in social activity and its impact on a healthy life is acknowledged within the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) 2017 report Creative Health and there is mention of loneliness and social isolation experienced by older people. However, the focus of the report is on the impact of arts activities on the health and general well-being of older people in different contexts and living with a range of conditions, with no specific consideration of how the arts may ameliorate the loneliness and social isolation experienced by older people living in residential care. This is important because according to Victor (2012) the prevalence of severe loneliness in care homes is double that of older people living in the community. In addition there are also high levels of depression found in residential care settings, and this may be linked to loneliness and social isolation. At present, four in ten people living in care homes are depressed (British Geriatrics Society, 2018). Therefore, developing and maintaining social relationships with the wider community, between peers, and between care staff and those cared for is key to addressing loneliness and social isolation and enhancing well-being for older people in care home settings (Victor, 2012). The importance of building relationships for older people living in care homes has been addressed by a number of authors (for example, Cook and Brown-Wilson, 2010; Roberts and Bowers, 2015). Wilson, Davies and Nolan (2009) researched the personal relationships that develop between residents, staff and family members across three care homes in the UK. They put forward three types of relationships: ‘pragmatic relationships’ that are concerned with the functional aspects of care; ‘personal and responsive relationships’ that