Creative Journeys Report 2019

18 Creative Journeys The findings across both stages of the research demonstrate what arts activities were happening in the care homes, the impacts those arts activities had on the social relationships of the older people who lived there, and the mediating factors that facilitate or impede those impacts. Impacts of social relationships included between residents, between residents and care staff, and between care homes and the wider community. The mediating factors identified, which influenced the delivery and impact of the activities included: the creative processes of participatory group work, the arts facilitator approach, and the power of the arts, as well as the care context regarding practicalities and preparation, and care home capacity and culture. 4.1 What art activities? The focus of this study is on participatory arts; Arts Council England (2010) explain that “participatory arts are by their very nature collaborative… the professional skills of the artist combine with the creative energy of the participants to produce an event or an experience”. The aim therefore of participatory arts is to get people actively involved in creative activities, and to be able to express their creativity. As stated previously the three case studies involved three different arts organisations: Age Exchange in Vaudeville Care Home (see Box 1), Green Candle Dance Company in Rambert Care Home (see Box 2), and Sinfonia Viva with Orchestras Live in Bridgewater Care Home (see Box 3). Pseudonyms are used for the care homes to maintain confidentiality and meet the ethical conditions of Essex County Council Research Governance. From the descriptions provided in the boxes it can be seen that the activities provided were reminiscence/story-telling, dance, and music composition. All these activities have an element of performance, with the individuals directly involved in the artistic act rather than the creation an artefact (Crawford et al., 2015). Vaudeville Care Home Vaudeville Care Home was situated in a large urban town in Essex. It had 106 beds across three floors, which functioned as different units with different staff members and different schedules: floors one and two included residents with and without cognitive impairments, whilst residents on floor three required additional general nursing care due to frailty and other ailments. There were at least 90 members of staff working in the home on different shift patterns, including one activities coordinator. A range of activities took place in the home, such as coffee mornings, afternoon film sessions, hair and beauty, bingo and quizzes, arts and crafts, and gardening. The building had a number of lounges and smaller activity rooms, including an old fashioned tea room where residents, families and friends could meet. Generally, activities were contained to one floor and there wasn’t often the opportunity for residents on different floors to interact. 4. Findings