Full Report 53 the residents alongside the ARCH programme, which involved carrying out risk assessments, planning rotas to ensure sufficient staffing, and implementing additional Covid-19 regulations. However, this was sometimes perceived as unnecessarily restrictive by artists, for example when on one occasion they asked for but were not provided with a list of names of residents. However, this was not the case in all the homes despite them all being managed by Excelcare, supporting the need for shared understandings and expectations of ARCH. Lifestyle Coordinators and Champions Lifestyle Coordinators played a key role in the delivery of the ARCH programme. The postresidency interview in one of the care homes emphasised the extensive role of the Lifestyle Coordinator, described as “the hardest job out of everybody…just trying to keep the spirits up”, which became more difficult and more necessary during and after the pandemic. They made a key contribution in terms of keeping the momentum of the residency going between sessions and encouraging the engagement of the wider care home staff, supported in some cases by the Care Home Manager. …the advocacy of [Care Home Manager] and [Deputy Manager] saying, “That’s very important,” and [Lifestyle Coordinator] saying, “Oh, they’re all amazing in the project,” was valuable in bringing in some of the other staff members. Arts organisation post-residency They were also the lynchpin in the partnership with the arts organisations, who talked about how welcoming and supportive they were as their main point of contact at the care home. However, there was also concerns that the ARCH programme was seen as the responsibility of the Lifestyle Coordinator alone. If [the Lifestyle Coordinator] were not there, then yes, you just have to do it on your own…the point of reference was only one person. Arts organisation post-residency This put a strain on Lifestyle Coordinators, and one reflected on how they felt unable to give the ARCH programme the time it needed due to competing priorities and changes in care home management. I just wish we had more time to be able to really take this to the next level. I think myself and [Care Home Manager] both agree on this… we’ve not been able to put as much input as we would have liked to have put in. And it’s only in the last recent months that we’ve been able to get really involved, and we can see the impact it has had… I’m just so gutted now, because I feel like I’ve wasted that time… but I just had to prioritise other things…it was like, “I just really don’t have time,” and it was just awful. You’re dealing with the home…undergoing a lot of stress, because it hadn’t had a manager… Care home post-residency Both arts organisations and care home staff emphasised the importance of support from both care home management and wider care home staff. In the R&D phase, there had been care home staff members named as ARCH Champions in each home. Though there was some uncertainty around what the role would specifically entail, the general intention was for Champions to work with the Lifestyle Coordinators on the residencies. In the post-residency interviews, arts organisations talked about the importance of involving care home staff who knew the residents and had an
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