Enhancing communication between dementia care staff and their residents: an arts-inspired intervention
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Standard Standard
In: Aging and Mental Health, Vol. 24, No. 8, 02.08.2020, p. 1306-1315.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
HarvardHarvard
APA
CBE
MLA
VancouverVancouver
Author
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - Enhancing communication between dementia care staff and their residents: an arts-inspired intervention
AU - Windle, Gillian
AU - Algar-Skaife, Katherine
AU - Caulfield, Maria
AU - Pickering-Jones, Luke
AU - Killick, John
AU - Zeilig, Hannah
AU - Tischler, Victoria
N1 - Creative Conversations was supported by funding from the Welsh Government through Health and Care Research Wales. Grant Ref: SC-16-1224: Creative Conversations: An exploratory study of an arts in health approach to embedding person-centred care and improving communication between care staff and people living with dementia.Funding for additional data collection for this project was provided to the lead author as part of her role as co-director of ‘Created out of Mind’. (Created Out of Mind was funded as ‘Created Out of Mind: Shaping Perceptions of Dementias, Grant Ref: 200783/Z/16/Z, by the Wellcome Trust as a part of the Hub Award. (Principal Investigator S. Crutch; Core Group: P. Ball, C. Evans, N. Fox, C. Murphy, F. Walsh, J. West, G. Windle, P. Camic).Regional and national collaborating partners in Created Out of Mind: Dementia Research Centre, University College London, Bangor University, Canterbury Christ Church University, Rare Dementia Support, TAnDem (Doctoral Training Centre for the Arts and Dementia), Royal Academy of Music, Living Words, City of London Sinfonia, Creative Dementia Arts Network, University of the Arts London (Central Saint Martins; London College of Fashion), Alzheimer’s Research UK, Alzheimer’s Society, Young Dementia UK, National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, Dementia Pathfinders, British Broadcast Corporation.
PY - 2020/8/2
Y1 - 2020/8/2
N2 - Objectives: The arts are increasingly recognised as important and beneficial activities for people living with dementia. However, there is little peer-reviewed published research exploring arts-based learning for dementia care staff. In response, this paper explores (a) how dementia care staff describe forms of communication in care settings, and (b) the impact on communication following four sessions of 'Creative Conversations', an arts-based intervention for skills development. Method: Fourteen care homes received the intervention, delivered as 4 × 2 hour sessions. The intervention uses a range of activities (e.g. poetry, film, music, art making). Twenty-eight care staff were opportunistically sampled (mean age = 42.29), and provided pre-post qualitative data, obtained through interviews. Transcripts were analysed thematically. Results: At baseline, the dominant 'task-focussed' nature of care work was described as a barrier to communication, challenging opportunities for developing meaningful relationships with residents. Post-intervention, three primary themes were identified regarding improving communication: (1) learning through the arts (secondary themes: simplicity and subtlety, innovation in communication, and strengthening the role of non-verbal communication), (2) Enhancing creative approaches to care (secondary themes: element of surprise, confidence to experiment and catalyst for communication) and (3) professional introspection (secondary themes: development of empathy, sharing knowledge and experiences and a new appreciation). Conclusions: The intervention validated staff skills and confidence, enabling meaningful interactions that could be creative, 'in the moment', spontaneous and improvised. This arts-based intervention, which departs from formal education and fact-based learning may be particularly useful for the development of the dementia care workforce.
AB - Objectives: The arts are increasingly recognised as important and beneficial activities for people living with dementia. However, there is little peer-reviewed published research exploring arts-based learning for dementia care staff. In response, this paper explores (a) how dementia care staff describe forms of communication in care settings, and (b) the impact on communication following four sessions of 'Creative Conversations', an arts-based intervention for skills development. Method: Fourteen care homes received the intervention, delivered as 4 × 2 hour sessions. The intervention uses a range of activities (e.g. poetry, film, music, art making). Twenty-eight care staff were opportunistically sampled (mean age = 42.29), and provided pre-post qualitative data, obtained through interviews. Transcripts were analysed thematically. Results: At baseline, the dominant 'task-focussed' nature of care work was described as a barrier to communication, challenging opportunities for developing meaningful relationships with residents. Post-intervention, three primary themes were identified regarding improving communication: (1) learning through the arts (secondary themes: simplicity and subtlety, innovation in communication, and strengthening the role of non-verbal communication), (2) Enhancing creative approaches to care (secondary themes: element of surprise, confidence to experiment and catalyst for communication) and (3) professional introspection (secondary themes: development of empathy, sharing knowledge and experiences and a new appreciation). Conclusions: The intervention validated staff skills and confidence, enabling meaningful interactions that could be creative, 'in the moment', spontaneous and improvised. This arts-based intervention, which departs from formal education and fact-based learning may be particularly useful for the development of the dementia care workforce.
KW - Dementia
KW - arts
KW - communication
KW - development
KW - training
KW - workforce
U2 - 10.1080/13607863.2019.1590310
DO - 10.1080/13607863.2019.1590310
M3 - Article
C2 - 30884963
VL - 24
SP - 1306
EP - 1315
JO - Aging and Mental Health
JF - Aging and Mental Health
SN - 1360-7863
IS - 8
ER -