Creative Journeys Report 2019

44 Creative Journeys involving residents painting pebbles with children from the community who visit the home, and then hiding the pebbles at the park during the concert so that attendees could find them and take them home as a memory of the day. This was perceived as promoting bonding between residents and family members, and the home and the wider community, through a shared experience of the arts. And the new projects we start, I’m hoping we’re going to do with the children, use a pebble project where we’ve got the pebbles. We’ve got the poster paint…whatever they want to paint their pebble… [and] we do this concert… [and] they paint the pebble. Then hide it, and then if it’s found you…take it home with you…we’re still in two minds whether they’re going to give them out to everybody so everyone goes away with a little gift on the day, the little pebble to put on their windowsill….It’s just to raise awareness in the community of people living with dementia… It’s totally free. Everybody can attend…it’s an afternoon of just pure entertainment, absolute fun, singing, dancing....And just everybody coming together... (Stage two care manager) 4.4.3 Changing dynamics The importance and value of residents being able to make a contribution was something that we found in stage one across relationships with relatives, staff and between residents, and is particularly important for forming reciprocal relationships. Even for those relatives who weren’t able to directly participate in the stage one arts activities, relatives got to know a different side to residents and residents were able to contribute something to their relationship with relatives when they visited or called; by sharing the arts activities and the new experiences they’d had. It created a topic of conversation between someone who’s in a care home and someone who’s outside. It often seems one way because the people in the care home are like, “Yes, today I had soup and sandwiches. Today I watched television and sat in my room.” Now it’s, “Actually, I did something today.”. (Stage one activities coordinator) In the stage two interviews it was again noted that by being involved in the arts, residents were more able to contribute to their relationships with family members and felt valued for that contribution. But more than this, the arts also provided a way for residents to contribute to and have a role within their wider community. For example, at one home the residents knitted blankets as part of their knitting group to give to the homeless, and some residents went with the activities coordinator to take them to a homeless charity. They’ve knitted bits for the homeless, blankets…a few of them went down with me, to take stuff down for the homeless and they made a huge, huge blanket that they had all done squares and it was knitted together…it’s keeping them connected. (Stage two activities coordinator) At this same home, the knitting group also contributed to the community through their knitting in other ways. The home were planning on hosting a dog show very shortly after the interviews took place, where people from the community could bring their dogs and compete for prizes. The residents would act as judges, and help with the planning and running of the tombola on the day, and the knitting club had knitted dog bow ties for prizes for the day.