Hello, my name is Gemma Moore and I am currently researching how people living with dementia can experience mark making in Meeting Centres. My website can be found here and my Linked in blog here.
Recently, I was accepted to participate in the Thriving Together Symposium – A symposium discussing ideas and experiences of couple hood, arts participation, and dementia. The event was hosted at The University of Sheffield and there was about 50-100 people in attendance (online and in person over the two days).
It was such a fantastic experience because I was able to represent the Association for Dementia Studies, University of Worcester at the conference.
When I came across the callout to submit an abstract, I was fascinated by how many ideas of the symposium were relevant to my research study which is exploring: how can people living with dementia experience mark making in Meeting Centres? I have previously completed some work already in this area, which you can learn more about here. Visual responses created from this body of work have also been exhibited widely and gained national attention including an exhibition titled Marginalised Represented (2023) which you can find out more about here.
I was able to engage with academics, artists, organisations, carers and people with lived experience of dementia who were interested in learning more about how others have approached using the arts as a successful research method, as a tool to better understand couple hood, arts participation, and dementia.
There was a wide variety of speakers from all over the world representing various creative organisations who work with people living with dementia in different capacities. One organisation I was excited by was led by Dr Katey Warren at the University of Edinburgh and the talk was titled Evaluating the arts in dementia care: What is the role of meaning-making? I found this talk particularly interesting because I am part of the research group’s 2-year co-production group, find out more about this here.
I was also able to learn more about how others have previously or plan to approach embodied research practices.
I had some interesting discussions with academics around Meeting Centres, their origin and what creative ‘activities’ are pursued in these spaces. I also referenced the importance of the original Heritage Pathfinders project that I was involved in which helped to contextualise my PhD journey and mark making.
I found the conference beneficial because not only am I learning about how other PhD students are approaching their studies and are processing their results, but also how others are adopting creative approaches to research, which is what I am interested in, as my background is in Fine Art.
In result of the conference, it has inspired me to think deeper into how the practices of music and art are interlined through the ideas of movement and gesture.
Thanks Gemma, it sounds like you had a great experience at the conference.
To start off 2024 we’re handing over to one of our new PhD students to introduce themselves and tell you about their studies. Here’s Gemma…
Hello! My name is Gemma Moore, I am a new PhD student at the University of Worcester. Very broadly, my PhD study is going to be investigating mark making in Meeting Centres. I am so pleased to now be a part of the Association for Dementia Studies (ADS).
I thought that I could write an introduction to my work as I am aware that I have taken an interesting route to the PhD, which I thought others might be interested in reading about.
When I was in the final year of my Fine Art BA (Hons) Degree at the Hereford College of Arts, I digitally stumbled across a PDF titled ‘Heritage Pathfinders’ on Google. I think I had only typed in Herefordshire artist opportunities when this had come up – I thought this looks interesting, I will see if I can apply. I was thinking ahead for the summer, post Degree, and probably considering what other opportunities there may be out there in my local area. I knew during my Degree that I wanted to pursue a Masters Degree (MA) afterwards, but at this stage little did I know I’d find a link to such an eye opening, rewarding and fascinating project that would hugely enrich the beginning of my academic career.
As I looked through the application form and the document outlining the brief, I couldn’t help but be really intrigued by what was written around dementia, the arts, my local town Leominster, and a curious place called the Leominster Meeting Centre. I was instantly intrigued, and I organised a call with Dr Timothy Senior, who was one of the leaders for the project. He encouraged me to apply, and I did so – that afternoon.
In my application, I thought through all the different modules that I had completed up to that date on my Degree programme. One module that sprang into my mind was one called Drawing Visual Language. From what I could remember from this module (it was the first one I completed on the BA(Hons)) the lecturer for this module was so enlightening, genuinely so interesting and had such a deep passion for contemporary mark making which she enthusiastically conveyed through her teaching and workshops.
I really enjoyed this module, and whenever I thought about it reminded me of how liberating many of its concepts, processes and practices were, and I was really keen to involve it in some way. Prior to this point, I had only ever perceived drawing to be a process whereby only a substrate, like a canvas, and a marker, like a pencil or piece of charcoal, could be involved in producing a drawing. But when I realised that suddenly drawing could be expanded to so much more including thinking, being in the air, demonstrated through objects and arrangements and materiality, I became so excited. I was liberated from the thought process that drawing means producing painstakingly ‘accurate’ representations of life which can feel so generic and irksome, which is the ritual that is unfortunately and continuously drummed into so many GCSE and A Level students. Many students at this point read art as this pursuit that only the very small few can ascertain, which irritates me when I contemplate how powerful art can be, once removed from the restrictive context of lower levels of the academic ladder.
I couldn’t believe how many links I could make to drawing, painting, mark making and dementia. In the application I also needed to reference past experiences where I had worked with older persons/people living with dementia, and for this element I referred to a series of experiences I had in relation to an award I won whilst at school.
At the time, I saw the 15 hours of community service as part of the Wigmore Gold Award as a ‘tickbox’ exercise. But when my community service led to working in the local residential care home it gave me such an invaluable experience – I spent my time talking about art and how much I enjoyed drawing and painting in my spare time (outside of school) to many of residents, which they really enjoyed. I told them all about the current school projects that I had been pursuing, and that the word I had been responding to was ‘Majestic’. I think some of the residents enjoyed their chats so much so that a couple of weeks later, it just so happened that when I went into the local hospital with my parents, I ended up bumping into one of the ladies who I had really connected with during my 15 hours at the care home. We recognised each other whilst waiting in a ward and she told my parents all about how much she had enjoyed her ‘art chats’ with me. Back then I was taken aback that she remembered to such an extent of what we talked about including every little detail of my current school projects.
It was this exchange that permeated my sense of how powerful art could be. It was also this point I suddenly realised the agency art making possessed and that the action of ‘just’ talking about art was tremendously powerful. So powerful that it characterised the experience that I had with the lady who I had met. This experience stayed with me; and it was this particular example I used in my application to participate in the Heritage Pathfinders project.
At the start of the Heritage Pathfinders project, I was simultaneously investigating in the last year of my Degree feminist performance photography, the creation of personas and time based media. The two lines of enquiry do seem very different – but conceptually, both link as they aim to deal with and represent human based issues from an altruistic perspective. It took me a while to forge the links between these two ideas. But this ultimately is the beauty of Fine Art; it can be so massively varied and diverse, but simultaneously connected through ideas and process led practice.
Whilst I finished and graduated with a First Class Degree in Fine Art and applied for a Masters Degree in Fine Art at the Birmingham School of Art, I was accepted and started to pursue the Heritage Pathfinders Artist Residency programme held at the Leominster Meeting Centre. It was a busy but such a rewarding time. I juggled starting my MA in Birmingham with trips to Leominster once a week to start off the project, beginning in September 2021 through to December 2021. I started off by just visiting the Centre and getting to know the Members at the Leominster Meeting Centre.
It was in the summer of 2022 when I presented my work and drawings made by Leominster Meeting Centre Members as part of an ADS webinar [a recording of the webinar is available in two parts, and Gemma presents in the second part]. It was held online but myself and the rest of the Heritage Pathfinders group presented live from the Tourist Information Centre in Leominster. It was at this point that the seed of thought of doing a PhD was planted.
A year later I was invited by Dr Shirley Evans to present my ideas and work at the UK Dementia Congress, which was really interesting and insightful. I made some invaluable connections who I know will help to guide and critique my ideas as the PhD journey progresses. I am so thankful for this opportunity, I am looking forward to seeing how my PhD unfolds and witnessing how many people living with dementia my research is going to help and benefit.
If you would like to discuss with me further about my research inquiry or any collaborative ideas, please do not hesitate to contact me: moog1_23@worc.ac.uk
Gemma presenting at UK Dementia Congress
Thanks Gemma, great to have you as part of the ADS team and we look forward to seeing how your studies progress.
After a pause due to the pandemic the UK Dementia Congress was back to being held in person, and this year it took place at Aston University Conference Centre on 8th-9th November. Although it was a smaller affair that previously, it provided a great opportunity to get back to networking, and made it possible for many of the Association for Dementia Studies (ADS) team – past and present – to meet up en masse. (I’m not sure what the collective noun for a group of ADS colleagues would be, but perhaps it’s best not to go there!)
We had a good presence at the conference including:
We regularly have to provide updates to the wider university to say what’s going on with our research within the Association for Dementia Studies, and it’s actually quite a nice exercise to do as it helps us realise just how much we’re doing on a daily basis. It’s a chance to pause and reflect, and as that feels quite appropriate at the moment we thought we’d share our latest research update with you. So, just what have we been up to between May and August?
Following a brief introduction by Dr Shirley Evans, Dr Becky Oatley began by giving an overview of the background for the Worcestershire Meeting Centres Programme. Back in 2020, Worcestershire County Council provided £540,000 from their Business Rates for Public Health Benefit with the aim of pump priming Meeting Centres across the county with up to £60,000 of funding in total for their first three years. The programme was just at the point of inviting community organisations to apply for the first round of funding when Covid hit and delayed everything by around six months. Despite this initial setback, multiple applications were received and assessed, and there are now ten funded Meeting Centres across Worcestershire in addition to the original demonstrator site in Droitwich Spa.
Using the Evesham & District Meeting Centre as an example, Becky gave a brief overview of what happens at a Meeting Centre. Essentially, the activities that take place at a Meeting Centre support people to adjust to the changes that a diagnosis of dementia brings. While this includes carers, and additional support is provided for them where needed, it is currently optional for carers to stay and join in as for some the opportunity to have a break and respite may be the most important factor at that time.
There have been several challenges for the Worcestershire Meeting Centres Programme, not least the impact of Covid. As well as delaying the call for funding applications, Covid has affected the diagnosis process for potential members. As Meeting Centres are aimed at people who have mild to moderate dementia, this delay means that by the time some people are diagnosed they may be at a point when Meeting Centres are no longer appropriate for them. Additionally, anxiety or a reluctance to be back out and about going to group activities may dissuade some people from attending Meeting Centres. Rising energy and cost of living have also had an impact on Meeting Centres as the energy bills for their venues and the prices of various resources used in activities have increased and need to be covered. The final challenge has been around reaching new members. Although there have been lots of different activities going on with support from ADS to explore different routes to the Meeting Centre, both directly with the public and also with potential referrers, this has still been a challenge. Many Meeting Centres have been holding open days and taster sessions to give people a chance to see what the Meeting Centre and venue is like before deciding whether to attend.
So what next? The first Meeting Centres funded as part of the programme are just going into their second year of operation and have had their next round of funding confirmed. Part of Becky’s role is to develop a county-wide community of practice to bring the Worcestershire Meeting Centres together. It is hoped that this will provide a platform for them to share their practice and experiences, and invite other organisations to get involved to spread the word and knowledge of Meeting Centres.
For the second part of the webinar Becky handed over to PhD student Nathan Stephens, who is evaluating the social and economic value of the Worcestershire Meeting Centres Programme, and shared some of his early findings with the group.
Social Return on Investment (SROI) has previously been used by organisations such as the Life Changes Trust to evaluate the impact of Dementia Friendly Communities in Scotland. Impact is often measured in financial terms, but this is not necessarily the best way, so SROI takes a more pragmatic approach to measure and account for social value and look at what actually matters to the people involved. It accepts the complexity of interventions such as Meeting Centres and does not begin with predefined outcomes, but tries to capture the wider range of experiences and look at cause and effect. Ultimately though it is an economic measure so Nathan will end up with a monetary figure. However, it’s important not to view it as a single measure of success but to see the ‘£’ as a common unit making it possible to compare outcomes and see where most value is being created and where improvements could be made. (Please watch the recording of the webinar for a much better explanation from Nathan!)
Although there are now ten Meeting Centres funded as part of the programme, there were only five when Nathan’s PhD began. His work is focusing on three of these as a cohort for his evaluation. The first part of the work involved consulting with various stakeholders about their own experiences around Meeting Centres and what changes they have seen. This information has then been analysed and mapped to identify patterns and outcomes, as well as the activities that need to take place for those outcomes to occur.
So far 23 well defined outcomes have been identified across five stakeholder groups, and the next step is to evidence the outcomes to make sure that they are actually happening, and begin to associate financial costs to them to get the final SROI value.
Nathan took the group through a few of the themes that are emerging from his work so far. Firstly, building back strong, sustainable, and fair communities. Some of the points raised by Nathan around this theme to get us thinking included:
Was access to the funding fair? It can be easier for larger organisations to apply due to their existing infrastructures and ability to respond to the funding call at fairly short notice.
Is their equity of access to Meeting Centres by families? There is a need to reach different communities who would benefit from the support provided through attending and having contact with Meeting Centres, not just during the sessions but wider signposting to other services. The cost of attending may make it inaccessible to some people, especially in more deprived areas. If a Meeting Centre runs at the same time as other existing services it may be less likely that some people will attend, especially if there are transport or cost issues involved.
The programme has helped to develop the workforce by providing opportunities for training and improving knowledge and skills, not just for staff but also volunteers and some carers.
The programme has raised the profile of dementia in the county, and also highlighted the lack of post-diagnostic support available in many areas.
Secondly, there was a theme around connectivity and culture change. The programme, and Becky’s role within that, is helping to bring different organisations and services together. Having a shared purpose and common concept like Meeting Centres is key to mobilising this joint working. However, there are still challenges to overcome to ensure efficient and longer-term engagement.
The third theme discussed by Nathan was economies of scale. If an organisation runs more than one Meeting Centre they can share human, physical and technical resources across them to reduce costs, and also benefit from having centralised or shared systems and processes in place. While this can potentially be helpful in terms of sustainability, there is a concern that is may result in a standardised, simplified approach to Meeting Centres. This in turn could risk diluting the underlying Meeting Centre ethos by repeating the same model in multiple areas rather than really focusing on providing optimum support and knowing what is important for individual communities.
Nathan concluded his session by leaving us with a couple of points to think about:
Have we reached a tipping point now that Meeting Centres are taking of and spreading rapidly across the UK?
Are we at risk of the commercialisation of Meeting Centres?
Discussions after the presentations indicated that everyone could see the value of the work being done by Nathan and how the principles can be applicable to Meeting Centres in other areas.
Thanks to Becky for setting the scene about the Worcestershire Meeting Centres Programme and to Nathan for getting us to think about some of the deeper aspects of Meeting Centres that maybe we don’t necessarily want to face up to but really need to as Meeting Centres take off across the UK. It will definitely be interesting to see how things develop over time.
Our webinars will be taking a short break over the Summer, with the next one due to take place on 30th September looking at ‘We’re all in this together!’. You can find out more information and details on how to join the webinar on our website.
This week’s blog is an opportunity for our new PhD student Nathan Stephens to introduce himself. He will be looking at the impact of a strategic regional approach to scaling up Meeting Centres for people affected by dementia. Over to you Nathan:
A few weeks into my PhD and some things are beginning to make sense, others not. But a marked difference from week one (now a little blurry), which in truth was a blend of utter jubilation and deflation – “I am ‘virtually’ here…”. This provoked thought: What about those without access to the internet? What about the roughly 60% of people attending Meetings Centres that this represents? I’ll return to this later.
Anyway, it was about time I ‘formally’ introduced myself and hopefully provide some insight to “who I am”, and “what I’m about”. A lover of phenomenology, I feel it is important for the researcher’s presence to be acknowledged. After all, I am trying to make sense of someone making sense of the world, and if you can make sense of me, perhaps you will make sense of the research. If that makes sense? But firstly I would like to say a sincere thank you to everyone at the Association for Dementia Studies (ADS) and wider for the very warm welcome. Regardless of why you’re joining a team, it is a daunting experience. I think/hope a combination of this, and Shirley (Director of studies) and co.’s robust induction programme has coerced me into the team. Having this opportunity to peek behind the academic curtain and witness the plentiful work going on, and all with a key drive to have a tangible impact, gives me a huge sense that the next three years are going to be some of my best!
So here we are in 2021 and back in lockdown. Instead of dwelling on things, we’re going to try and be a bit positive and look at some of our plans for the coming months – although as the blog title suggests, who knows whether our plans will end up matching reality! When we tried a similar post back in February last year hardly anything we wrote about actually happened, but hey, let’s see how we go. This isn’t a full list, just a few examples of what’s going to be keeping us busy over the next few months.
First off, we’re hoping that at some point Professor Dawn Brooker might be able to receive her MBE in person. Posh frocks at the ready! (Ok, we know that we won’t be going with her, but any excuse to get dressed up, right?)
As academic sponsor, UK Dementia Congress is a big deal for the Association for Dementia Studies, but obviously with the current situation getting large numbers of people together in a conference was not going to happen. The conference therefore moved online and was held virtually from 10th to 12th November. Congratulations to the Journal of Dementia Care for organising it all and getting it up and running. This blog provides an overview of the various presentations ADS was part of, but also reflects on some of the differences between a virtual and face-to-face conference.
In a recent blog post a colleague reported on a webinar I gave presenting the findings from my PhD research. The study looked at how care workers in care homes learn to care for people living with dementia. I’m pleased to be able to tell you about the next stage of sharing those findings to a wider audience: working with a professional artist to create a poster.
Once I had recovered from the examination process of my PhD (it took a few months!) I started to think about how to make sure that the findings from the study reached the right people; those working with and in care homes for people living with dementia. There’s no point in putting all that work in if my thesis gathers dust on a shelf!
On Thursday 16th July nearly 150 people joined members of the Association for Dementia Studies team and the Senior Physical Activity & Adapted Sport (SPAAS) team for a webinar on ‘Sport, physical activity & dementia: Discussions for practice from the University of Worcester’.
Welcome
The webinar was opened and chaired by Dr Yvonne Thomas from the University’s School of Allied Health and Community, welcoming everyone and setting the scene for the rest of the session.
The experiences of people with dementia engaging in sport and physical activity within their local community leisure and fitness centre
Up first was Dr Chris Russell who presented on his recent PhD. Following an initial literature review of existing evidence and a scoping survey, Chris’ research focused on four people with dementia who participated in activities within three community leisure and fitness centres, giving the opportunity to get an in-depth understanding of their experiences. Using a participatory approach meant that Chris found himself joining in a variety of different sporting activities during his study.
Association for Dementia Studies Blog 