Arts for Life
St Christopher’s Arts Team
Health Promotion Project into
Care Homes
Marion Tasker
Arts Team
 Community artists, Art and Music therapists
 Different backgrounds, training, experience
 Hospice Community 1:1, Group work
Bringing community groups together
through:

Schools project – over 40 schools
(2004 - present)
 Care Home Group Work and Training Project – over 30
Care Homes
(2008 - 2011)
 Community Partnerships Health Promotion Project -20
Care Homes planned (2011- 2013)
1.
St Christopher’s Schools project
 2004 - present –changing attitudes towards death, dying and hospice
work by actively engaging local school children with dying people
 Aim to develop relationships between patients and students mediated by
Art/Music project
 Project runs over a period of four weeks
 Around 40 primary & secondary schools and colleges to date
 Roll-out across U.K. – commissioned from NHS Northwest – 8 hospices
 Some U.K. hospices now with designated posts
 International uptake – USA, Sweden, Germany, India etc.
 Australian palliative care unit – won major award
 First National Symposium at St Christopher’s 2010 – many
examples presented of other hospice developments
 Successful evaluation – new in depth evaluation project completed March
2012
2 Care home group work and
education project
 2008 - 2011 – running eight week arts group work programmes in care
homes
 Three aims:
1. Enhance patient well-being through 8 week long group
projects
2. Change Care home environments and public perception by
Exhibiting and performing patient artwork
3. Develop and validate role of care home staff by providing
ongoing quarterly training and support sessions back at St
Christopher’s Education Centre
 Training and support sessions –– over 300 staff ongoing – average
attendance 25
 Over thirty care homes benefitted - around 350 residents
Involving your community
Using the Arts
The Arts provide a ‘context’ to be
together
Music/Songwriting
Reminiscence/Life Story
Painting/Pottery
Creative writing/Poetry
Photography/Film
“What when I was a person?”
3.Care homes and health promotion
Pilot project
 Pilot project partnering 3 care homes with schools (2010)
1. Kirkdale – Sydenham High Junior
2. Windmill lodge- Richard Atkins primary
3. Hamilton lodge- Fairlawn Primary school
 Same four week structure as original schools project
 Grant from Arts Council England to linking care homes and
local community groups (2011 – 2013)
 churches, pubs, community arts groups and choirs etc.
3.Care homes and health promotion –
project Aims
 Challenge negative public perceptions
 Project Sustainability
 Encourage community responsibility towards local care
homes.
3.Care homes and health promotion
Current Partnerships
Peartree Care home – Dolphin Pub (Singing)
Westwood House – St Bartholemew Church (Kite making)
Barrington lodge- St Mary’s Church (Pottery)
Elmwood Care home Margery McClure Special needs
(painting)
 Coloma Court CH- Caloma Girls School (Portraits)
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3.Care homes and health promotion
Case study
Peartree care home and
The Dolphin pub 03/2011
Peartree Care Home and
Regulars of The Dolphin pub
3. Care homes and health
promotion - findings to date
 Changing care homes’ view of themselves within their
community
 Residents lives enriched through external social contact
 Public’s sense of fulfilment through participation
 Participating public become aware they have a role to play
in residents’ social wellbeing
 Helps to dispel fears around working with those less able
to communicate in familiar ways
Working in Care Homes
“It’s shared, not all tied up in one. It’s
shared. I’m glad you came”.
Our personal stories need to be
witnessed and shared for us to find
personal meaning