Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance
Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance Conference
Hancock Museum, Newcastle
21st and 22nd March 2019
Day One
This was the first conference of the newly formed Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance which is a merger of the former Museums, Health and Wellbeing Alliance and Arts, Health and Wellbeing Alliance. Here is a link to the the two day programme:
We were welcomed to the conference by Alex Poulter, the Chair of the CHWA and Victoria Hume Director of the CHWA.
Ian Watson, Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums (TWAM) - gave an overview of the provision the museum service offer which is linked to wellbeing. Outreach programme has 3 elements - Platinum over 55s, Recovery Rich and Slow Shopping a pledge to end mental health discrimination.
Errol Francis, Culture+ - explored the term culture and its application and posed the question is culture a synonym for race? Culture+ museum school aims to diversify museum workforce and expand audiences. Explored definition of wellbeing - is it contentment and happiness or the absence of disease? Some examples of cultural wellbeing projects:
- Sanctuaries - artists working in hospitals to create art with patients
- Imagination Cafe - creative approaches for people with dementia in a cafe setting
- Vitreous Bodies - project at Pitt Rivers focused on the re-telling of stories
- Cyborgs - Wellcome collection exploring the impact of technology on the human body
Zodwa Nyoni, poet and playwright and Deborah Munt, Ministry of Others - discuss the ‘Conflab’ project in Huddersfield which was a response to the EU referendum and intolerance. Creative expression resulting from a dinner for 6 people. Zobwa reads two of her poems created in response - ‘Love’ and ‘Black Bodies’.
There was then a keynote discussion - Q and A session and some of the topics included:
- the economic role of arts/culture - should they be saving the NHS money?
- the differences between wellbeing initiatives and art therapy
- social prescribing linking therapy and wellbeing
I then went off for a provocation session on the theme of ‘Democratising Practice’.There were 5 panelists and a chair and the following points were of note:
- are culture and arts exclusive and not for everyone?
- is high culture celebrated as cultural capital?
- should arts come for free?
- we need to keep asking whether what we do is of use? Is is truly meaningful?
- can the arts change lives?
- can we really achieve all the outcomes we set or are we dancing to the tune of the funders?
- cultural entitlement, part of our human rights?
One of the really interesting projects mentioned was by Michael McHugh (TWAM) who is working with inpatients in a secure unit hospital exploring museum collections with people who have had traumatic pasts but skirting around the concept of ‘histories’.
After lunch a keynote speech from:
Neil Churchill, NHS England - ‘Care is our business’, talks about ’hello my name is’ campaign, ‘patient as paper’ photography project at Whipscross Hospital, ‘AFTA thoughts’ on Merseyside, ‘Not so grim up North’ - lots of activities going on in hospitals but not all hospitals so there are inequalities. 3 main things the NHS are doing linking to wellbeing: volunteering; social prescribing; local areas have own specific objectives in relation to health and wellbeing.
Panel discussion on the theme of tackling sustainability - Helen Chatterjee, UCL; Bill Griffiths, TWAM; Jim Joss, AESOP; Catherine Hearn, Helix Arts, Lawnmowers Theatre Company - raised the following points:
- needs to be more geographical equality in health and wellbeing initiatives and funding
- programmes need to be evidence based, sustainable, consistent in quality, meeting a need and universally available
Another panel discussion on the theme of social prescribing - Craig Lister, Green Gym; Jo Ward, Changemaker; Tiffany Li, Social Prescribing student scheme; Gavin Clayton, Hearts and Minds, Miranda Stearn, Fitzwilliam Museum; Alex Coulter, Arts and Health SW - raised the following points:
- wellbeing of children should also be a focus, not just older people and those with illness especially in relation to health inequalities in children
- social prescribing needs to be in undergraduate curriculums for all health professionals
- is social prescribing more well established in the arts than in museums?
- are asset based models more successful/beneficial?
The session ended with a Q and A and the following points were raised:
- how do cultural organisations go about getting funding from NHS commissioners?
- how do we find out who our local champions are?
- how do we join the social prescribing network?
- how do we make opportunities sustainable for individuals and the service?
Day Two
There was a welcome from Alice Thwaite, Equal Arts; Zoe Brown, TWAM; Gilly Angell and Richard McMann, The LENS:
Zoe outlined her role as regional rep for the NE - each area of England has a regional rep for CHWA. 10th-16th June is Health and Wellbeing Week this year. (Isle of Wight is considered in the south west region so Ruth Gidley and Alex Coulter are the reps)
Richard gave an inspiring presentation about his come back from a traumatic brain injury and has now set up his own CIC as is doing learning and wellbeing work.
Lord Howarth the President of CHWA gave the keynote speech:
All Party Parliamentary Group published ‘Creative Health’ in 2017 https://www.artshealthandwellbeing.org.uk/appg-inquiry/ Subsquently DCMS and ACE are having conversations about incorporating wellbeing into the 10 year ACE strategy. The national academy for social prescribing has been established - need to ensure arts and culture on prescription embedded into both health and culture. Policy makers now being influenced but more must be done to influence curriculum in medical schools, lobbying CCGs and research because evidence base is crucial. ‘Healing touch to a wounded psyche’.
There was a panel discussion on the theme of developments - Claire Perkins, Public Health England; Lord Howarth, John McMahon, Arts Council England; Liz Ellis, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Alex Coulter, CHWA - Notable points included:
- ‘What works centre for wellbeing’ https://whatworkswellbeing.org/
- natural overlaps culture has with sport, music and natural environment need to be explored further
- new ofsted requirements for schools have a focus on creativity not just academic performance
- new National Lottery Heritage Fund strategy has new mandatory outcome to involve a wider range of people who are not accessing heritage, for the first time wellbeing is also an outcome (although optional) and guidance is available here https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/publications/wellbeing-guidance
Another panel discussion on the theme of research - Craig Robertson Music & Health Research Network; Norma Daykin, University of Tampere; Dr Shanali Perera, Digital artist; Victoria Tischler, University of West London; Owen Evans, Edge Hill University - Notable points included:
- art as a means to empower and take away focus from pain, giving sense of purpose, more than a form of expression - a way of thinking but how is this measured/quantified?
- culture and health should pressure universities and call them to account to make the research of benefit to them
- challenges in wellbeing research include too much focus on benefits rather than risks and challenges
- what is the role of qualitative evidence and how much is enough?
- how do we share the research and data we collect with a wider audience?
- https://www.artshealthresources.org.uk/
After lunch I attended a provocation session on the theme of peer led and person centered - there were 4 presentations of projects all of which were really interesting:
Gabrielle Hamilton, Leeds Museums & Galleries: Cultures of health and wellbeing in a heritage setting - partnership working with agencies who refer individuals, funding from ACE to provide 2 community curators and 2 youth engagement workers all working on tailored programmes for individuals rather than groups.
Emma Scarr, Ben Hudson and Diane Gray, Community Arts Project North East, The Cultural Spring: Home is where the heart is - story sharing project where memories are transformed into songs, music and art. Creative People and Places ACE funded project.
Susie Hall and Adam Goldwater, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust and Great North Museum: Hancock: The Heart of the Matter - a multi-disciplinary collaboration resulting in public enagement and an exhibition where patients and doctors explored the heart as a medical/creative object.
Kel Marie Philburn, Danny Crossley and Marco Galli, Heads & Tales, Chilli Studio - Without diverse and active community involvement, history is just preserving the story of power and wealth, project focuses on missing histories of people with mental illness in an institution over 70 years, participants themselves have poor mental health and the project is enabling them to have a voice. ‘History can inspire, culture can give us a sense of place’.
There was then a final Q and A session to end the day and the following questions were asked:
Don’t make evaluation onerous on participants. Wellbeing scores not always useful, reliable or relevant.
Volunteering is valuable and can be a positive outcome for participants but practitioners should be paid for their expertise, programmes should be properly costed so professionals can be paid to run them
Power ‘v’ empowering, but in the end who holds the power?
I’m definitely full of information after these intense two days. I’ve been moved by a couple of people who spoke about their own experience of being involved in cultural programmes which supported their wellbeing and had positive and life changing impacts on them. Their stories will stay in my memory long after much of other content but it’s been a good opportunity to keep abreast of all the developments in the field and hear that the CHW agenda is becoming more known about within the circles of the policy makers. Now to make contact with the south west regional rep to see what more we can do here on the Isle of Wight......