Kent Arts and Wellbeing are grateful to Kent County Council for support through the Building Back Better Fund. During the latter stages of the pandemic, with high community infections rates, we have had restricted access to be able to work with a care home partner. That has highlighted the need to support activity co- ordinators to be able to work with residents on creative activity where their experience of that creative genre might be limited.
The fund has allowed us to working jointly with care co ordinators to develop video based support covering working with specific kits, and also providing hints and tips about how to support residents to engage in creative activity, getting the correct balance between support and challenge to maximise a sense of personal achievement for the residents. This work is being led by Catherine Arnell of Espression Arts , one of our delivery partners.
If successful, it has application beyond a single care home and may form the basis for developing a network of care co ordinators, creatives and volunteers who can work together to improve the lives of care home residents. We are exploring this option with the National Activities Providers’Association(NAPA)
