Generating critical dialogue through creative arts
Creating Community - Projects
Lothian Y1 Project
The key aim of this project was to use creative arts to stimulate people (residents, family, staff) to discuss their care home environment in a way that generated an active interest in making change together. Two care homes self-selected to be involved. One was a family run care home for women and the second was part of a large group of care homes.
Groups of relatives, residents and staff used photographs, clay, collage and a drama process (called Image Theatre) to explore their experience of the care setting. The theme we explored was Creating Community.
Two actors/facilitators worked with them to identify important things that, if changed, would make a significant difference to their experience of the care home.
The outcome was then posted onto a ‘Graffiti Wall’ for the whole community to respond to (sharing thoughts, feelings, ideas).
The work was very successful in encouraging people to share their views. For example, one series of exchanges focused on staff support. In the workshop the staff group had discussed the blame culture they experienced at the care home. They decided to present this positively using two questions “do I get enough support?” and “what kind of support would you like?” This prompted the following additions:
- ‘Do you give enough?’
- ‘What more do you want from us?’
- ‘A smile costs nothing and means a lot’ and ‘We don’t pretend to care (here) we do care!’ and ‘Our ladies are cared for in a very special way!’
In our follow up meeting with the manager she said that there had been a lot of talk among the staff about the issues raised on the Graffiti Wall. One matter discussed as a result of the Graffiti Wall concerned where staff sat for their breaks. Staff in the workshop had talked of the care staff and domestic staff sitting separately in the dining room. For them, this reflected the division between these two staff groups. However, on the Graffiti Wall they posed a question “the care staff and domestics sit separately during breaks, I wonder why?” This had generated a lot of anger from the domestic staff. It was discussed at a staff meeting and this resulted in new understanding between the two groups. Thus, the manager was able to address a team matter that she had not been aware of.
What do we make of our experience here?
Image Theatre (and supportive processes) offers a powerful way to generate critical dialogue. In both care homes, the work succeeded in opening up areas of contention, providing an opportunity for the community to explore and understand them. Important issues emerged (e.g. to do with team working, performance management, diversity, conflict management, the organization of care work, the quality of care, the level of social interaction). Yet it was down to the care home manager to decide how this work might be taken forward.
One of the managers responded positively to the experience, identifying what she had learnt and what the next steps would be. However, the second manager had not made such preparations and this affected how the staff were able to engage with the workshops. At a follow up meeting he admitted feeling angry and upset at some of the comments on the Graffiti Wall. He had removed the offending board and hidden it in his office before recovering sufficiently to return it.
The managers had no control over what might emerge from the work. They had agreed to take part but to what extent had they really understood its potential consequences? We felt, in conclusion, that we had not allowed sufficient time to prepare and support the care home (and in particular the manager) to make use of the development opportunity the project offered.
This matter is highly relevant for the process of involvement itself: involvement can only take place if disagreement can be tolerated. We were struck by how novel the experience was that we were offering: not in terms of drama but in terms of the act of expressing and sharing views. What this project highlights is the level of commitment, courage and skill required by a care home manager to ensure that the community is genuinely involved in decision-making.
