A series of artistic workshops have been held at Charing Cross Hospital aimed at elderly patients and those with dementia, run by creative team ‘Paper Birch’ and funded by Imperial College Healthcare Charity. Paper Birch’s founders, Laura Venables and Faith Wray, ran a series of weekly workshops involving a mix of projects where patients are encouraged to use arts and crafts as a means of expression.
The workshops are designed to help engage patients and encourage greater mobility. Laura and Faith are Masters students at the Royal College of Art, and having experienced the impact dementia and memory loss through ageing has on people's lives, they were determined to bring their own skills into the healthcare environment.
The workshops ran for six weeks in the elderly rehabilitation centre; each week the workshop focused on a different art or craft format. Highlights included paper flower making, creation of a bunting display and clay modelling. Laura and Faith are trained by ‘Arts 4 Dementia’ to focus the workshops on stimulating activities which promote physical wellness and also encourage story-telling and communication between the group.
The analysis of each workshop would include a ‘glow moment’ noted by Laura and Faith and these would generally document the moment that the workshop made a noticeable difference for one of the participants. This is one example: Making with Clay ‘After working with a patient for the previous two weeks I had begun to form a companionship and friendship with him. We chatted about the previous week and I asked how his wife and family were. He then agreed to come into the day room but explained how he didn’t feel up to doing much of the activity. Soon after he was working clay with his hands, rolling it out using a wooden rolling pin and using his hands to feel and discuss the various textures of the clay leaves. This was a huge transformation from previous weeks when he had struggled to even pick up a glue stick. It was a very rewarding moment for both of us.’
Ginny Wright, Chief of Service at the Unit said “Everyone on the ward has been so impressed with the work that Paper Birch have done. One of my SHOs has just commented on how the patients seem so much more motivated and happier after their art sessions. I am quite sure that this results in better engagement with all members of the multidisciplinary team and hence improves their rehab potential and reduces their length of stay.”
News about the positive impact the workshops were having on the patients spread and the Charity’s arts team were contacted by the elderly unit at Hammersmith Hospital. They had a patient who had been a sculptor and was soon to be going into a care home, she was often disorientated and confused The staff felt she would benefit from some creative interaction and after a very special one to one session with Faith, spending the time in deep concentration and thought, she was astonishingly more lucid and happy.