REPORT BACK FROM THE PEAK MEDICINE WORKSHOP

As a starting point here are some reflections from the Creative Arts Group – Maya, Catherine, Louise and Lynda discussed ideas.

What we can offer

Movement/dance, art, drama, voice, breath work, being in nature.

Different Populations

Mums & babies, young children, youth, adults, the elderly, people with dementia.

People affected by cognitive change and dementia

The creative arts offer non verbal forms of communicating and ways of maintaining quality and depth in relationships with people whose capacity to communicate with language and cognition are affected.

Catherine facilitates groups for anyone who cares for or cares about a person with dementia – family members, friends, carers, professionals – based on a resiliency model – ‘how to find hope while dealing with stress and grief.’  Her work has grown from psychotherapeutic principles and puts the transformative potential of creativity and human relationships at its heart.

Her broader vision is to create a multi-disciplinary network of practitioners, each committed in their own field to promoting emotional health and wellbeing, through a wide range of creative and relational approaches, for people affected by dementia. This would include fields of arts, leisure, nature and complementary health.

Young Children & Movement Play

In many early years settings children increasingly offered more cognitive based activities and opportunities for physical play often not recognised as important as it should be. Children often told to ‘sit still’, ‘don’t run’, ‘stop being silly’, ‘get up off the floor’. Negative feedback starts young with babies & young children. Importance of getting to this young population for future health – a child who is comfortable in their skin is often a confident, happier child.

Maya can offer a movement play approach for mums, babies and young children having already been involved in this work for six years through JABADAO, the National Centre for Movement, Learning & Health. It combines the arts, education and health.

Creating a programme or even a day for Early Years Practitioners to demonstrate the importance of movement play for children and how it develops their nervous system and brain as well as their bodies. Includes a combination of play, light theory and ways in which they can offer more movement play opportunities in their settings.

Could also create a programme for mothers and young children who struggle with bonding, have anxiety or depression. Have already done this and it really worked. Mothers had the opportunity to talk and listen to each other in the group, therefore not feeling so isolated, and together supported each other in making significant changes in how they related to  and played with their children.

Creative Arts for people with medically unexplained symptoms

People who repeatedly go to the doctors with specific symptoms that cannot be explained – they do not get well. As Dave said: ‘medically unexplained stories’. A programme or activites offered to patients as an alternative treatment.

Maya can offer gentle movement, breath work, visualistion, art work and writing having recently done training in this. She would be willing to run a pilot programme to see how and if this works.

Funding

It all comes back to commissioning in the end. Who will fund these activities? If we could get GP’s on board they could approach their commissioning groups to release money towards the creative arts.