I was recently lucky enough to be commissioned to run a writing for wellbeing project in a local care home- and not just any old care home. This is the poshest, friendliest, swankiest care home I have ever seen.
They have a bar, a brasserie, a café, a salon, a library, a cinema, and an ever-rotating schedule of activities, entertainment and outings on offer for their residents. It is like a five-star hotel, with all-inclusive meals and excursions. They even serve sherry at lunch time! The Poetry Project I was commissioned to run is part of the new approach their Events and Business Development Manager is taking to introduce more creative activities and to encourage more engagement with the local community. There will be a different creative project each month, each led by a local artist, and I hope to be invited back again in the future… Mostly, the residents just enjoyed listening to me read a poem, as there is an immense power in just hearing the words out loud, and being read to can be extremely soothing. But one thing our elders have going for them is their ability, and indeed willingness, to tell stories. The responses triggered by a poem or other prompt seemed random at first, but they often made sense when I knew the back story of the person I was speaking with. For example, the repetition of certain words or phrases may have seemed out of context with the subject at hand, but then a staff member would point out that the word ‘grandad’ from the poem I had just read, reminded the participant of their own grandfather, who liked to cycle, hence the repetition of the phrase ‘a bicycle made for two.’ The participant had free associated from ‘grandad’ to ‘bicycle’, to the lyrics of a song she recalled hearing in childhood. And therein lies the poetic gold; the abstract thinking creating a tangible memory based on the sense of sound. During our final session, one lady was recalling her experience of being evacuated during the war, and was repeating the same details she had previously shared with me, which had then been included in the group poem. I thanked her for her memories, and said I had a poem that reminded me of what she had just told me. I read her the poem she had contributed to the week before, and she was stunned to hear her own words repeated back to her as a poem, despite the fact that she couldn’t remember having spoken them before! The older generation also seem to be less inhibited than the rest of us. Although they may still have some anxieties over not being ‘clever enough’ or thinking they need to ‘be a writer’ to take part in the sessions, they are usually less anxious about speaking in front of their peers than other age groups. Care homes are becoming more and more eager to provide a wide variety of activities, outings and entertainment for their residents, so there is bound to be something for everyone. The most important thing I have learnt about working as a writer in a care home is that, just being there is often enough. Sometimes residents just appreciate a new face, someone to talk to, to tell their stories to; someone to acknowledge their existence. Just by giving them your time, attention, kindness, respect and encouragement, you are improving their wellbeing. If you can soothe them with the sound of your voice reading to them, or use their words to craft a poem from their shared experiences, then that’s just an added bonus. And if all else fails? I’ve discovered that a nice cup of tea usually does the trick!
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I first heard about the All Party Parliamentary report, ‘Creative Health: The Arts for Health and Wellbeing’ whilst listening back to the recordings of the keynote speeches and debates from the Culture, Health and Wellbeing International Conference which was held in Bristol in June this year. The Right Honourable Lord Howarth spoke about the key recommendations cited in the report and told the delegates that the report would be published on 19th July 2017. I was listening to this keynote speech on the 12th July and was relieved it was only a week away. Even through my headphones, via YouTube, I could feel the excitement of potential fizzing in the conference hall.
Needless to say, a week later, my Twitter feed exploded, and I could hardly contain myself on social media that evening- sharing and liking and re-tweeting about the report, despite the fact that the majority of my friends and family would have no clue what I was banging on about, or how important this news was: not only for me and my various career paths, but potentially to society as a whole. Many of us don’t need a report to tell us what we already know: that creativity, arts and culture can improve our mental, physical and emotional wellbeing in so many ways I won’t even try to go into them all here. James Pennebaker proved this with his expressive writing experiments back in the 1970’s, and Art, Dance and Music Therapy are already widely used in hospitals, care homes, schools and other settings to supplement more mainstream interventions. But so far the arts have been just that: supplementary. They are considered a luxury rather than a necessity, accessible only by the privileged few who are wealthy enough, or live close enough to, funded projects. Only this week I was reading an article shared by Ty Newydd Creative Writing Centre where poet Kim Moore defended the centre against a recent report that claimed that creative writing retreats, such as those run buy Ty Newydd, were primarily for ‘retired hobbyists’. This is another example of society viewing creativity as something indulgent that only people with lots of time and money can afford- and deserve- to participate in. What the ‘Creative Health’ report has done is bring together all the evidence that has been building up since Pennebaker’s research, and even from way before then (why do we think were so many war poets? How else could they make sense of the horrors around them? And I’m pretty sure there is evidence that human beings have been using art to improve their lives since the Stone Age), and brought it into mainstream consideration. The report includes several case studies of projects taking place all over the UK today that prove, in both qualitative AND quantitative ways, that being involved in creative, artistic or cultural activities, improves health and wellbeing for ALL people, regardless of their age, socio-economic background, ethnicity, or any other characteristic. And the really clever thing about the report? It’s not asking the government (whoever that may be at any given time) for any more money. In fact it is saying that, by following their recommendations, they could even SAVE money! It is just asking for a shift in the way we think about the arts, and for policy makers, healthcare providers, politicians, practitioners and the general public to finally embrace the full potential and power of creative pursuits- for the many, not the few. For people like me who are just trying to break into the field of Creative Writing for Wellbeing, it means that there could potentially be more support (financial, social and practical) for this industry. It means there could be more opportunities available for practitioners using writing within a health or social care context. It means my timing could be just right. And for people suffering from both physical and mental issues (the entire population basically), it means that there could be an alternative way of improving their health and wellbeing that is neither invasive nor expensive, and is confidently ‘prescribed’ by their GP or other medical professional. In fact, no ‘prescription’ is needed. Anyone can pick up a pen, pencil or paintbrush; put on their dancing shoes; sing their heart out. Anytime, any place; alone or with company. Creativity is the ultimate self-help technique. Many people believe that, if creativity was a drug, it would have been bottled, branded and sold years ago, as the miracle cure we have all been waiting for. The ‘Creative Health’ report has given us a recipe to follow to make this ‘drug’ available to everyone, as a cure in its own right, and, as a Writing for Wellbeing enthusiast, I am perfectly placed to be a part of this exciting new era. .Benefits of Participatory Arts Projects with Young People:
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