We hope to foster an understanding of the value of the arts and creative activity, particularly in a care setting, and demonstrate and celebrate the positive impact of ageing creatively.
In 2020, we were delighted to announce the five artists and six care settings participated in the Care Hubs of Arts & Creative Excellence initiative 2020/2021, funded by Creative Ireland’s Creativity in Older Age Programme, with support from the Arts Council of Ireland. This initiative built on learning and knowledge gathered from our previous residency initiatives which centred on thoughtful and bespoke arts experiences for older people in care around Ireland.
The key aim of the Care Hubs of Arts & Creative Excellence initiative was to generate arts and care skills and knowledge in six regions around Ireland. Artists’ residencies were at the core of the initiative and took place from January to April 2021, bringing imaginative and engaging new arts experiences to the residents, staff and families of the care settings and providing a link between the residents and their local community. Newly commissioned research and bespoke training provided by our Creative Exchanges and Azure initiatives was also designed to inform the artists, regional arts workers and care settings.
These residencies brought the benefits of arts participation to up to 125 older people who either live in or visit care facilities and 125-250 staff, families, artists and the wider community.
The Six Residencies
- Liz Clark worked on her music project Homeplace with participants from Castleisland Day Care Centre, Kerry and Raheen Community Hospital, Clare, composing a song, connecting us to our homeplace and our relationship to it. At the end of this project, the participants performed this song, engaging the local community choir/ local musicians to showcase the work to the wider community.
- Maud Hendricks and Bernie O’Reilly (Outlandish Theatre Platform) worked with residents of two healthcare settings, John’s Community Hospital, Sligo and Killybegs Community Hospital, Donegal, exploring a pivotal moment in the lives of the residents. Through an exploration of this moment, they co-created theatre pieces through the use of specially-made Wonder Boxes.
- Philippa Donnellan and Olwyn Lyons, working with Clonskeagh Community Nursing Unit, Dublin and Naas Day Care Centre, Kildare, invited everyone to take a step in a new direction and to share an idea or their own moves. People had the chance to exercise, engage and artistically explore – and to celebrate their life and work in a series of specially choreographed performance events in story, song and dance.
Funded by Creative Ireland’s Creativity in Older Age Programme, with support from the Arts Council of Ireland. Read the press release here.
We believe that, whether you are 8 or 80 years old, we all should have access and opportunities to attend and participate in the arts and to realise our creative potential. Fresh thinking, bold experimentation and creativity are all fundamental to delivering a high quality of life for older people.
Research shows that arts programmes involving music, visual arts and drama, among other activities, have a profound influence on the quality of life of older people, with positive impacts on health, psychological well-being, confidence and autonomy as well as other benefits such as:
- happiness
- mental wellbeing
- reduced stress
- improved cognition
- sense of identity and personhood
- increased self-esteem and confidence
- reduced boredom.
