Creative Journeys Report 2019

64 Creative Journeys If they’ve got a bit of arthritis now, obviously they can’t paint as well as they used to. (Stage two activities coordinator) The survey data findings echoed these responses with a number of homes citing a lack of resident capacity as a reason as to why residents did not take an active role. However, one of the activities coordinators interviewed in stage two did express that the approach of the home was not to encourage certain types of participatory arts activities with residents out of fear that it would make residents sad to be reminded of their limited abilities. Start simple and then go from there rather than start something that’s too hard for them to do because then obviously they get disappointed that they can’t do it... (Stage two activities coordinator) Furthermore, in another of the stage two care homes, the activities coordinator and care manager explained how their residents had previously had a “can’t do” attitude, but that after having a professional arts organisation come in over a number of weeks to carry out an intergenerational arts project, this changed. This perhaps highlights the additional skill of professional arts facilitators in empowering residents and building their confidence. …prior to the project, we actually struggled to get anyone to do any art and crafts and anything like that. It’s like, “Oh, no, I can’t because of this and I can’t because of that.” One of the ladies…she was very restrictive because of a condition she has. So she was very, “Oh, no, I can’t do that. I wouldn’t be able to do that.” So it was quite difficult with that side of things before. Now a lot more- we get a lot more arts and crafts. A lot of them join in, and actually following on from that a lot of the residents are realising, “Actually I can do.” They wouldn’t try before. Even though we tried to get them to try, a lot of them wouldn’t try. But now they’ve realised what they can actually do and what they can achieve. (Stage two care manager and activities coordinator) Additionally, the survey respondents identified that positive staff attitudes towards arts activities were essential in helping residents to engage in the arts. As identified in both stages of the research, having an existing culture in the care home of involvement in creativity and the arts was also important. In stage one there were ways in which the arts organisations were able to embed this; for example, Sinfonia Viva with Orchestras Live ran the staff-only session before the arts programme with residents started, where they were able to experience some of the activities and be creative themselves, helping staff to understand the approach. In addition, Age Exchange organised training for staff members in their creative and facilitation approach after the arts programme had finished as a way of leaving a lasting legacy (discussed further in the section on sustainability), though this was dependent on further funding.