Executive Summary Introduction Consilium Research and Consultancy (Consilium) was commissioned in November 2012 by Skills for Care, in partnership with Skills for Care and Development and Creative & Cultural Skills, to inform future thinking around the role of arts in the delivery of social care and in particular the implications for workforce development. This narrative report provides a summary of the evidence collated and reviewed as part of the evidence review of studies on the role of arts in the delivery of adult social care. This review is focused on the use of arts in adult social care including activities delivered in a range of social care settings such as residential, day, domiciliary and community care. It also includes activities for adult recipients of care delivered in community settings. The key research questions were: What works? What do you need to make it work? How much does it cost? Policy Context In 2010 the Care Quality Commission commissioned the Social Care Institute for Excellence to define what an excellent adult social care service looks like. The report identified four essential elements of excellence, one of which was to provide a service which supports and enables people to engage in activities, pastimes and roles which bring them pleasure and meaning and enhance their quality of life. However, with pressure on funding available to arts organisations across England, there is a need to explore existing and potential models of using arts to deliver social care including the implications for workforce development. Methodology The approach to completing the evidence review has followed Skills for Care’s agreed approach (Appendix 1). Having formulated the review questions and developed a conceptual framework (Appendix 2), inclusion and exclusion criteria were agreed and the search strategy implemented. The evidence review was implemented between the 10th December 2012 and 1st February 2013. The evidence review identified 191 documents that met the search criteria. Each document was screened by a member of the research team and compared against agreed inclusion and exclusion criteria. The process of initially screening the studies reduced the number of documents to be synthesised to 91. The screening process identified a number of trends in the studies including those presenting evidence on the use of arts in delivering health
Circle Dance (2012) is an organisation which leads and trains staff in the use of Circle Dance for people with dementia. Since September 2008 it has run 85 training days for 1,000 staff including 600 staff from care homes. The one day training course provides trainees with all of the information they need to deliver Circle Dance within their setting. Their most recent summary report includes positive feedback from a selection of staff that have attended the training but falls short of presenting a more detailed assessment of impact on professional practice and outcomes delivered for social care recipients. This is not directed as a criticism but is referenced to outline the fact that the full impact of training activities on staff is not always captured either due to capacity, cost or expertise. Generally where examples of art-based activities to develop social care skills have been identified it is not always possible to assess their effectiveness in affecting the actual practice of adult social care staff (i.e. use of arts, quality of delivery and impact of participants) as largely this information isn’t presented. In other words the publications tend to present feedback on the training course rather than a more detailed follow-up of trainees to determine the extent to which they are putting the learning into practice in their respective setting (which is likely due to a lack of resources to undertake such research). Other documents outline potential benefits rather than stating actual benefits based on empirical evidence. There are some exceptions however. Jones (2012) presents an evaluation of the First Taste training programme which delivers training to care staff in Derbyshire in order that they are able and confident to deliver learning activities for older people in care settings. The training was mostly attended by staff with specific responsibilities for providing activities but was also attended by some care home managers and care assistants. The training covers a wide variety of one-to-one and group activities, including chair-based exercises, arts and crafts, poetry, the use of the Nintendo Wii and hand massage. The activities co-ordinators interviewed as part of the research reported that they had not received any training specific to their role before they participated in the First Taste training. The research found that: The participants gained new skills that they were immediately able to put into practice in their everyday work. For example, they gained new understandings of health conditions such as dementia, and strategies for coping with them;
Swann, J.I. (2012) ‘From pottery to plays: arts activities in the home’. Nursing and Residential Care. 14(4), April 2012, pp.195-198 Vella-Burrows, T. & G. Hancox (2012) ‘Singing and people with Parkinson's’. Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health, University Centre Folkestone. Wallace Consulting (2012) ‘Evaluation of the Arts and Older People Programme: Interim Report.’ Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Wood, S. (2004)- ‘Music therapy: striking a chord with care home residents’. Nursing Older People. 2004 Oct;16(7):24-6 Wright, C. (2008) ‘Reflective Study of the Creative Carers Programme’. Suffolk Artlink. Appendix 1 - Skills for Care Rapid Evidence Assessment Formulate the REA question This will lead the direction of the review and therefore conclusions that follow. It is important to make clear any assumptions associated with for example the conceptual framework for the review. It is important that any REA question: Drives the process Is a statement that can be investigated not a subject area of interest Is clear and answerable Should need an answer and be worth asking Three main types of questions: What works (impact) What do you need to make it work? (non impact e.g. what do people need or want, attitudes, what do people think etc) How much does it cost? (economic questions) Conceptual framework? Agree the framework for considering the research including any definitions to be used and underlying assumptions associated with the research. Set inclusion and exclusion criteria The inclusion criteria specifies studies to be included and excluded along with some justification. Can include language of publication, date of publication, population group, type of intervention or study, settings, research methods. This can also include how the REA will be rapid, e.g. include only existing systematic reviews Devise search strategy This can include: What is to be searched for (inclusion/exclusion)