Creative Journeys Report 2019

Creative Journeys 67 I think sometimes we do undervalue just that thing happening in that moment in time and how valuable it is to that person. (Arts organisations focus group) Some residents did not remember the arts activities they had participated in by the end of the day, while others gradually forgot about the arts programme and struggled to remember at the three month follow-up interview; memory therefore represents a significant barrier to the sustainability of impacts. I can’t see it’s going to have that much of a long-term effect on the people with dementia. Maybe for some of the people who don’t have dementia, who are over this side. It will fade from memory and it will be gone. (Stage one relative) By the time I got back… they’d forgotten. One lady in particular did say to me, “Where have you been? What have you been doing?” so I said, “I’ve been out this afternoon, I’ve listened to an orchestra and a concert,” and she said, “I wish I’d have known, I’d liked to have come.” She’d forgotten that she’d been there, but once she’d been there she loved it so it definitely does have a positive impact on their moods, the shame of it is they can’t remember. (Stage one activities coordinator) Nevertheless, as eluded to in the last quote, participatory arts can still have a positive effect on mood in the moment, and this can in turn have a more sustainable impact on the people around them. For example, other residents, staff and family members saw their enjoyment or found out new things about them and could draw on that in future interactions so that resident would continue to have joyful moments in the future. The value of impacts in the moment was explored further in the stage two arts organisation focus group. There is so much that happens in the moment which is amazing. I think we feel under pressure to have to prove longer term impact and in the moment isn’t necessarily enough for funders and people looking at this work. I think it really is because it’s those special experiences and moments and life enriching experiences that we can all make happen. (Arts organisations focus group) 4.8.2 Care staff providing continued arts activities Given the importance of impacts in the moment, the findings also indicated a need for continued activity, encouragement and facilitation of participatory arts activities. Stage two survey and interviews demonstrated a wide range of arts activities that care homes are providing for their residents continuously, as set out in section 4.1 “What art activities?”. In response to a question on long-term impact, one third of survey respondents reported their care home being more relaxed as a result of arts activities and that they created a positive atmosphere making it a more positive place to live and work: