Creative Home Delivery Service 2024

Project impact on participant social isolation and wellbeing
Benefits to mental health and wellbeing were reported by participants, carers and artists, and were aided particularly by effective management, creative engagement and social interaction. Some participants gained improvements in physical health as a result of the integration of movement based activities. The encouragement and gentle challenge of the artists, along with opportunities to celebrate artistic output, all contributed to increased wellbeing.

Development and learning of artists and facilitators
Artists bring a wide range of skills to the work, both relational and creative. Their own lived experience of mental health challenges and the positive impact of creative activity formed the basis of deep and empathetic relationships. As a result, the project opened up space for reflection on memory, feelings, hopes and fears. This was described as ‘soul medicine’ and contrasted with more clinical approaches taken in traditional care settings. For some artists there was a transformation in the way they perceive their role as artists, seeing the facilitation role as a creative process in its own right. Effective support for artists has been crucial.

Partnerships and co-production
At the heart of the project is a team of participant, artist and facilitator. However, these sit within a wider set of relationships that include family and cares of participants, and project partners. Together, these stakeholders collaborated in co-producing positive wellbeing outcomes with the participant, with each bring their own knowledge and skills. A number of recommendations were made for strengthening this co-productive approach, including by sharing information about artist and participant before the first session and by connecting participants to each other, and artists to each other, more effectively. The increasing role of project partners brings new opportunities for referral.

Impact on ‘significant others’
In addition to the impact on participants, the project has also supported significantly improved wellbeing amongst carers of participants. They described increased peace of mind associated with the knowledge that their loved ones are ‘in safe hands’ and receiving opportunities to build new relationships and new experiences. They described a reduction in feelings of guilt and of pressure to provide all the participant’s emotional, physical and intellectual needs.

Organisational culture
PSU has developed a unique organisational culture that prioritises relationships characterised by equality, friendship and a spirit of accompaniment. Artists are supported and engaged as co-creators on their own journey of change that is supported. The organisation’s physical presence in a community, along with its portfolio of projects, enables consistency and stability along with the opportunity to support participants into new experiences. Nevertheless, this consistency is challenging in a context of short term funding.

Impact and learning from the Most Significant Change approach
The MSC approach enabled a range of stakeholders including participants, staff and partners to be involved in evaluating and learning from the project. The use of stories allowed the team to explore the relational, emotional and spiritual aspects of change associated with the project. This iteration of the project included the voices of carers and partners in addition to participants and staff. The MSC panel agreed that narrative approaches to evaluation should be used alongside quantitative approaches in all aspects of PSU’s work.