‘Creative Conversations’:an arts-in-health approach to communication
Research type
Research Study
Full title
'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
IRAS ID
213197
Contact name
Katherine Algar
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Bangor University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 31 days
Research summary
Usual training for care home staff was found by the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales (2014) to focus on how to lift people, fire safety, and safeguarding, rather than helping care staff understand how to communicate with older people, including those living with dementia. However, researchers found poets and creative writers spending time on projects with people living with dementia in care homes also benefitted staff in learning new skills and increasing their understanding of the residents as individuals.
This research aims to develop and test a workshop ‘Creative Conversations’ for care staff working with people living with dementia. It uses examples from creative arts (e.g. poetry, music, & films) as a way of helping staff understand more about how people living with dementia feel and to teach staff new ways of communicating.
The workshop will be delivered to staff at three care homes at a time until staff from 9 care homes have been trained. The researcher will visit each care home every few weeks and observe interaction between staff and residents to show whether there is any change after the workshop. Staff will also answer questionnaires before and after the workshop to show whether there is a change in the way they feel about their job and feelings of burnout. The researcher will also observe resident participants to measure quality of life and well-being.
It is hoped that after the workshop, staff will have a better understanding of dementia and have the skills to become more compassionate and effective communicators, more satisfied about their job and have less feelings of burnout, which will in turn improve the quality of life for the people living with dementia in their care.REC name
Wales REC 4
REC reference
17/WA/0058
Date of REC Opinion
11 Apr 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion