Arts and Dementia
In 2016 I completed a practice-based PhD at Royal Holloway, University of London. My research explored the role artists, reminiscence and inter-disciplinary arts practices (theatre, music, fine art and dance) can play in the lives of care home residents living with dementia.
The research focused on Reminiscence Arts and Dementia – Impact on Quality of Life (RADIQL), a three year programme created by Age Exchange Theatre Trust and funded by Guy's and St Thomas' Charity.
The following are links to documentation of artworks I made to communicate aspects of my research:
Download the catalogue from the exhibition in which the artworks were first shown.
In 2015 I had an article The role of objects in supporting older adults with dementia to tell stories about their lives published in Journal of Applied Arts & Health, I have a co-edited book chapter coming out later this year and I will be giving a paper at the First International Research Conference on the Arts and Dementia: Theory, Methodology and Evidence, at RSPH on the 9th-10th March 2017.
Art in Health and Social Care Settings
Since August 2016 I have been working as a Research and Evaluation Associate with Paintings in Hospitals, a charity that exhibits art in health and social care sites.
One of my research projects focusses on Works Like People II, a collaboration between Paintings in Hospitals and the Wallace Collection that commissioned contemporary artist Tom Ellis to produce paintings for GP waiting rooms.
My research involved ethnographic observations in GP waiting rooms and at the Wallace Collection, interviews and focus groups with a range of stakeholders and desk-based research.
I will be presenting a paper on my research at the Association of Art Historians 2017 Annual Conference, 6 – 8 April 2017, Loughborough University.