Creative Journeys Report 2019

62 Creative Journeys [I]n any project… if it’s going to be successful [it will be down to] the staff relationship... You’re powerless unless you’ve got that person inside… to enthuse people to come, bring them along… [and] when they’re there, support them so they don’t get distressed or fall asleep... (Stage one arts facilitator) I respect [activities coordinator], because as I say he works so hard. I do respect him for what he does. Very good, very good. He works so hard; he never stops. Never stops. (Stage one resident) I thought that the staff… were really enthusiastic about what we were doing and in their support of it, and they were very accommodating and really passionate about engaging people. (Stage one arts facilitator) Wider staff understanding and attitudes towards the arts varied across the stage one care homes – often staff were positive about the arts but did not have the capacity to get involved. The activities coordinator also acted as a bridge between the arts organisations and the rest of the staff in the care home, and was central to creating a culture in the home that valued and supported the arts. This included getting buy-in from the staff, though there was often a lack of direct involvement from the wider care staff in the arts activities. This was primarily due to staff workload as care staff needed to look after those residents who were not participating in the arts activities. For example, the observational data from stage one case studies showed that care staff members often stopped to watch parts of the Green Candle dance sessions, and sometimes even joined in with the partner dancing, but were quickly called away when a resident not participating in the sessions rang their bell for assistance. This was compounded by other capacity issues such as shift working, which meant that the same staff members were not always there on the same days or times each week, or shifts that changed in the middle of arts activity sessions. We could have joined in if we wanted to, but again, we were short-staffed. (Stage one staff member) With my job…it’s difficult for me to get involved with the majority of the activities... (Stage two staff member) Moreover, for some staff members there was a perception that any activities were the sole responsibility of the activities coordinator and not something they would get involved in as carers. It’s because obviously staff are busy, and we can’t leave the floor to do things like that. It would have had to have been, “Right, okay, when is your day off? You can take part in this one” sort of thing, because we don’t get much time to do what we want to do really. (Stage one staff member) It’s just a shame - obviously - that they’re very busy people. They couldn’t really come and assist or help out. I think they missed out, to be honest. I do think that they should have been able to, but unfortunately in the care industry it’s unpredictable and you can’t promise anything because tomorrow is a different day - it’s a different kettle of fish. (Stage one activities coordinator)