Creative Journeys Report 2019

42 Creative Journeys 4.4.2 Shared experiences In the stage one case studies the arts helped to strengthen relationships between residents and their relatives through them having a shared experience and getting to know each other in a new context. As mentioned previously, some relatives were able to attend the arts activities and for one of these relatives she also described getting to know other residents in the home (aside from her own family member). It’s good because I feel like I’ve got to know other residents here as well. They see me five days a week, but I feel like I’ve got better relations with them now because of what we’ve done here in the [arts sessions] so it’s been really nice. (Stage one relative) From the above quote it is interesting to note that despite already visiting the home five days a week, it was only when the arts programme took place that she felt she got to know the residents and built relations with them. This was also noted in the survey. Relatives join residents in activities and build friendships with residents that are not family members. (Survey respondent) Many relatives also attended the Sinfonia Viva with Orchestras Live performance, which again created a shared experience that enhanced existing bonds especially when these bonds were formed over a shared interest in the arts. Through observations of the performance it was noted that relatives were very engaged with their family members, singing together, laughing together, having conversations, and clearly enjoying sharing the experience. One family member (the daughter of one of the participating residents) also attended a viewing of the Age Exchange film at the care home, and became quite emotional when her mother was telling her life stories on the film. Also, despite not being able to attend the sessions with Age Exchange, some family members contributed in other ways; such as finding and bringing in photos from the resident’s past to share during reminiscence sessions, or watching the film at a later date and sharing it more widely with friends and family, which further helped to support family relationships and bonding. There was also a positive interest from relatives in resident’s stories from their past and what they were doing during the arts activities. Additionally, residents sometimes became interested in joining in the arts activities because they had a previous positive experience of the arts which was often shared with their relatives. This lead to the engagement of some residents who would not normally have engaged in activities, for example a resident who used to take his daughter to classical music concerts took part in the Sinfonia Viva with Orchestras Live programme. For some, the bonding between residents and relatives over their shared experience continued after the arts programme had finished; but for residents with cognitive impairment, staff reported that arts made a difference to their relationship with relatives only ‘in the moment’. However, for the relative this memory and experience of bonding would have lasted beyond the moment, which will be discussed further in the section on sustainability. Relatives also reported seeing the positive impact of the arts activities on the residents, and enjoyed seeing their family member happy. But equally residents were happy that their relative enjoyed the performance or the film. Relatives and residents were able to enjoy the experience together, and during the Sinfonia Viva with Orchestras Live performance, relatives shared song sheets with