509 Arts report into arts in care homes published
The Arts in Care Homes programme was a joint funding initiative between Baring Foundation and Arts Council England (2013-2016) to explore models of professional arts practice with and for older people in care homes over three years.
Four programmes were evaluated in the report:
- @Home: a commercial subscription model led by We Do in Huddersfield
- Home Service: a consortium model, originally led by Arts in Health Cornwall and then by Creative Kernow
- Imagine: a care home led model, led by the Abbeyfield Society in partnership with City Arts Nottingham and Nottingham City Council
- Making of Me: an artist development model, let by The Courtyard, Hereford working first with Shaw Healthcare and the Order of St John in Gloucester and Oxford.
David Cutler of the Baring Foundation commented:
“Each Breath is Valuable gives a helpful typology of the models for arts in care homes: commercial; consortium; care home-led and artist development, which underpinned the four major grants we awarded after a highly competitive tender process. It is realistic about the intense challenges of working in the care home sector, which is facing desperately severe financial pressures and an ever more frail population. The report is emphatic about the benefits which the arts bring to residents, family and staff, as well as the stimulation and satisfaction that this work brings to artists.”
