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Pilot Arts Project Reaches Out To Care Home Residents
Residents with dementia and special needs at a HICA care home in Hull are showing levels of concentration and co-ordination never seen before – thanks to a pioneering new arts project being run in the city.
Staff at the Riverside Grange on Hessle High Road, Hull, are delighted by the response shown by a number of residents who were involved in the pilot project. The partners involved in this Hull City Council project are the City Arts Unit and Adult Care Services.
Nancy Brown, Activities Leader at Riverside Grange, said: “The results of the project have been very encouraging – professional artists working for the Arts Unit have brought music, dance, arts, crafts, drama and story telling into the lives of our residents, who have responded in an amazing way.”
“An 88-year-old resident who does not communicate and has not displayed any signs of recognition in the past showed a remarkable reaction when one of the artists produced drawings of her. The resident recognised herself and started to touch the drawings. She now looks and touches them all the time and gets an awful lot of pleasure from them,” she added.
“Another 67-year-old resident surprised her husband and staff at the home by colouring in a picture. No-one had seen her display such a level of concentration and mental co-ordination since she developed dementia.”
Riverside Grange staff are so encouraged by the results of the project that they are planning to adopt the artists’ techniques so that they can continue their work.