Abstract

This project explores new opportunities for creative practitioners (creative carers/professional artists) in the ageing economy in the UK. It responds to the rising demand for dementia care, finding itself on the crossroads of art, healthcare and the humanities. Taking an ethnographic approach, it investigates how concrete processes of creative practice in the dementia care industry in Northern Ireland have (or have not) expanded job opportunities/enriched the experience of creative carers and artists. It further explores how such practices have increased the well-being of patients, arguing that a study of their joint activities of ‘making’ can lead to new understandings of personhood, sociality and the creative process.

One of the greatest challenges the UK is facing is the increasing number of people with dementia. It is estimated that in Northern Ireland 19,000 people are living with dementia; the number is expected to rise. Most research on dementia care focuses entirely on diagnosis and disability, discrediting the strengths/skills of patients and ignoring the significance of creativity to personhood. Previous successful projects in Northern Ireland and elsewhere show the value of creative making (singing, knitting, painting, etc) in the care practice, but the evidence is often anecdotal which emphasises the need for serious research.

This project has two main objectives. The first is to consider the opportunities that creative practitioners have in the care industry. At a time that the arts sector has been facing enormous cuts, the potential to employ creative practitioners in the care sector must be critically explored. Including creative practices in the care sector could generate job opportunities for creative carers and artists, including craftspeople, visual artists, musicians, dancers and actors. The aim is to research the labour conditions of creative care-work, and how this may be enrichening for the careers of creative practitioners.

The second objective is to look at how ‘creative making’ practices can contribute to the well-being of dementia sufferers. My approach is informed by anthropological approaches to ‘creativity’ and ‘making’ and a phenomenological understanding of the body. The project explores how the world is actively experienced through bodily engagement, and how ageing/ailing people are situated in the world through creative making.

Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the research reviews and brings together theories from psychology, anthropology, health care sector and art, as well as various case studies around the world. The project includes an ethnographic fieldwork period, which consists of participant observation and observant participation in dementia care settings in Northern Ireland, along with organising/helping out with creative activities and interviewing the participants.

Research questions
1. What opportunities does the dementia care system in Northern Ireland offer to creative carers and professional artists; what are the main challenges?
2. How/why have concrete cases of creative making in care-homes/day-care centres/home care arrangements increased (or failed to increase) the well-being of people with dementia and what are the benefits, challenges and potential risks?
3. How, in specific projects have creative practitioners been able to enrich their creative experiences, raise their artistic profiles, and develop their professional careers?
4. How can a focus on ‘making’ in the dementia care system theorise personhood, sociality and creativity in new ways?

The project is done in collaboration with AgeNI, the leading charity for older people in Northern Ireland

Aims

This project has two main objectives. The first is to consider the opportunities that creative practitioners have in the care industry. At a time that the arts sector has been facing enormous cuts, the potential to employ creative practitioners in the care sector must be critically explored. Including creative practices in the care sector could generate job opportunities for creative carers and artists, including craftspeople, visual artists, musicians, dancers and actors. The aim is to research the labour conditions of creative care-work, and how this may be enrichening for the careers of creative practitioners.

The second objective is to look at how ‘creative making’ practices can contribute to the well-being of dementia sufferers. My approach is informed by anthropological approaches to ‘creativity’ and ‘making’ and a phenomenological understanding of the body. The project explores how the world is actively experienced through bodily engagement, and how ageing/ailing people are situated in the world through creative making.