MESOC Serapeum | Where culture meets AI

Id		550
Author		Pienaar L., Reynolds F.
Title		‘A respite thing’: A qualitative study of a creative arts leisure programme for family caregivers of people with dementia
Reference		Pienaar L., Reynolds F.; ‘A respite thing’: A qualitative study of a creative arts leisure programme for family caregivers of people with dementia ;Health Psychology Open vol:2 issue: 1 page:
Link to article		https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85016310228&doi=10.1177%2f2055102915581563&partnerID=40&md5=c1f5322c3abb3c1e54d8a70e1549829c
Abstract		This study explored the meanings of participating in a 5-week creative arts leisure programme designed for family caregivers of people with dementia, using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Eight carers attended and four who met the eligibility criteria agreed to be interviewed. Participants experienced the arts group as providing a sense of freedom and respite, strengthening identity through promoting achievement, offering social support through a collective focus on art- and craft-making and increasing resilience for coping with caring. Some found the 5-week programme too short. Benefits were linked to the security of knowing that loved ones with dementia were close by, being well cared for. Further research is needed into the long-term benefits of creative arts groups for promoting carer well-being. © The Author(s) 2015.

Results:

Candidate transition variables
So I suppose that made me feel good ... .
Recurring themes are that engagement in artmaking reduces stress, facilitates contact with more positive emotions, increases self-worth and promotes feelings of social connectedness. .
Enjoying being together - group participation motivates participation All participants highlighted the social benefits of participation in the programme, as well as enjoying the inner experience of creativity. .
Participants enjoyed respite from caregiving both through spending time immersed in the art-making process as well as participating in the social exchanges surrounding this. .
Participants experienced the arts group as providing a sense of freedom and respite, strengthening identity through promoting achievement, offering social support through a collective focus on art- and craft-making and increasing resilience for coping with caring. .
The creative art-making within a supportive social environment helped to alleviate the sense of depletion that carers associated with caregiving and offered a brief experience of respite that they felt enhanced their resilience and coping resources. .
Careful attention is needed when designing community art projects to planning suitable follow-up events and opportunities for participants who wish to take their new interests forwards. .
In focusing upon processes and products of art-making, these social interactions helped to strengthen a sense of self that was not, within that art-making space, solely defined by caregiving, or burdened by everyday problems. .
Museums and art galleries are being increasingly recognised as having a role to play in promoting well-being, being rich in cultural heritage, offering a sanctuary from everyday stress and promoting cognitive and emotional exploration in a non-stigmatising setting (Camic and Chatterjee, 2013). .
The creative art-making group in this study offered opportunities for active learning and selfdirection, perhaps strengthening a sense of agency more effectively than passive leisure occupations. .
Although evidence is limited, it suggests that a creative arts intervention may offer caregivers multi-faceted experiences that promote subjective well-being, such as hope, affirmation and mutual support. .
Their accounts of caregiving revealed psychological needs that the art-making group may have helped to address. .
But in the short-term, the respite experience of the creative arts programme had beneficial ripple out effects into the caregivers management of the stress of caring, according to their accounts. .
Participants felt that the experience of focusing deeply on creative expression enabled them to return to their caregiving role in a better state of emotional control and relaxation. .
This study has been relatively unusual in discovering that a creative arts leisure intervention may offer a meaningful form of brief respite to caregivers of people with dementia. .
Conclusion This qualitative study found that a short-term creative arts leisure intervention for carers of people with dementia facilitated self-expression and positive identity, addressing the undermining effects of chronic caregiving on self. .
The findings suggest that the creative art-making group affirmed a positive identity outside of caring, albeit for a brief period. .
Further research is needed into the long-term benefits of creative arts groups for promoting carer well-being. .
Some caregivers view leisure as a temporary escape from caring, which helps to preserve health and emotional functioning, thereby enhancing coping (Gahagan et al., 2007). .
This theory resonates with the caregivers descriptions of deriving feelings of calmness from participating in the group which they could then apply in their caregiving roles. .
It was a sort of like a respite thing - the caregivers art group as a space of freedom to allow caregivers to do their own things Respite refers to a temporary period of rest or relief from something difficult or distressing. .
Caring was very much experienced as depleting coping reserves, and the art-making group offered a temporary respite. .
It felt good doing art work - an accumulation of positive influences of art-making on mood and identity All four participants were enthusiastic about the creative art-making group, expressing not only pleasure in engaging the creative process but a deep sense of self-affirmation. .
The motivating and supportive functions of the group and the tutors (or group facilitators) in community art interventions have been noted in other studies (e.g. Camic et al., 2014; Lawson et al., 2014), and clearly rely on the facilitators skills not only in presenting interesting art projects but managing group dynamics to enhance the experience of mutual support, respect and sharing. .
it was sort of like a respite thing. .
(Lydia) Easier to care - influence of the creative arts groups on caregiving The creative process and the accepting social environment of the art group were thought to promote relaxation. .
All participants recognised the central role of the facilitators not only in teaching skills for making arts and crafts, but in orchestrating such a supportive environment: They just made us feel welcome, made us feel at ease, encouraged. .
Tangible artistic products (appraised personally as well as shown to others within the group, displayed more formally in the art gallery or given as gifts) helped demonstrate participants capability to self and others. .
Carers from more advantaged backgrounds and with lengthier experience of art-making might have offered richer accounts of the meanings of this creative activity. .
The arts group also provided a deep sense of camaraderie and mutual encouragement. .
They took pride in various aspects of their artwork and were sometimes surprised by its quality and, by inference, their own creative abilities: I had done something I have never done before and I was pleased with it. .
The practical creative art-making sessions followed a person-centred philosophy, with participants able to choose from among a range of arts and crafts each week. .

ARTICLE - CANDIDATE TRANSITION VARIABLES

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