Residents at a local care home have been participating in the national Arts in the Care Home 2023 arts initiative, creating colourful and expressive artworks.
Staff at
HC-One’s Ferndale Court, located in Ditton, Widnes, encouraged residents to engage in reflective art, with the aid of music.
This was linked in with the main theme of the Arts in the Care Home initiative, which this year was reflection.
The initiative, which culminated in the National Day of Arts in Care Homes on the 24th September, aimed to champion, promote, and encourage arts engagement in care settings, and highlight the health and wellbeing benefits for all involved.
16 residents at Ferndale Court care home were involved in the activity, which involved listening carefully to music on headphones and then representing the sensory impact of the music they felt through painting.
Kevin Barrett, Wellbeing Coordinator at Ferndale Court, said:
“As a Wellbeing Coordinator I like to try and encourage the best from our residents, and I believe this latest activity is the first of a kind in a care setting.
We combined music, which is a powerful tool and loaded with memories, and colour, which can help express emotions, to create some very powerful artwork.
The end result has been amazing for everyone involved. I am so proud of the residents and the effort that they have put into this unique activity.”
The residents responded extremely positively to the activity. Resident Malcolm Sutton said:
“I felt so refreshed.”
Resident Ramon Hughes said:
“That was so relaxing.”
Resident Nancy Ann Carter said:
“It made me feel so happy.”
Resident Alan Mercer, who said his painting of flying represented his childhood holidays, commented:
“This brought back so many memories of when I was younger.”
Tish McKee, Ferndale Court Home Manager, said:
“What a wonderful experience for our residents. It was very humbling to see each of them immerse themselves in the medium of both art and music.
The connectivity and emotive engagement have had such therapeutic impact, and it is something we will continue to work on as it has been such a success.”