Creative Journeys Report 2019

78 Creative Journeys In addition to the art form itself our findings illuminated a number of strategies that were used to promote social interaction, such as the ‘Hello Song’, working in pairs, open questions, and inviting ‘play’ during the sessions. Social interaction is described as a key ingredient by Swindells et al. (2016) for a successful project, and there are number of strategies that facilitators may use. Firstly the circle formation, used by all of the arts facilitators in the study, where participants are organised into a circle offers ‘democratic geometry’ (Higgins, 2008): there is no hierarchy and everyone is seen as an equal partner in the creative process. A sense of camaraderie is developed through a reward system – when things go well, but it can also develop through frustration when an activity is not successful (Swindells et al., 2016). Planned failure may also be built into an activity to produce laughter (Bungay, Clift and Skingley, 2010), and facilitators in this research used playfulness and humour throughout the sessions, and laughter as described previously strengthens social bonds. In addition, facilitators used objects or pieces of music to evoke memories and encourage storytelling. The wider data also highlighted the particular importance of the activities co-ordinators in working alongside the arts facilitator, co-ordinating sessions, supporting residents and staff to attend sessions and finding ways to embed elements of the activities after the formal sessions ended. Their role in contributing to the wider culture of the home is therefore important. It is of concern therefore that the survey findings indicated that a number of homes did not have anyone taking on this role.