National Day of Arts in Care Homes #AICH2023

The National Activity Providers Association (NAPA) is delighted to launch this year’s National Day of Arts in Care Homes #AICH2023. An annual event which takes place on 24 September each year, it is an opportunity to celebrate the inspiring work with the arts and creativity that is taking place to support health and wellbeing in care settings.

NAPA will lead a week-long celebration of arts and creativity in care provision, starting on Monday 18 September and culminating with The National Day of Arts in Care Homes on Sunday 24 September. Care providers and their partners including arts and cultural organisations, are invited to join in by organising events to celebrate the day, and sharing pictures and stories with us on social media about their event or creative activities they have delivered during 2023. NAPA will be delivering a free online programme of events and activities during the week.

Arts and Aging Day Canada which also takes place on the 24 September was inspired by the National Day of Arts in Care Homes, and this year organisations in Australia and France are also planning events to mark the day. This exciting news highlights the growing interest internationally in the benefits of creative health in later life.

” We are very proud of what has been achieved so far during the NAPA Arts in Care Homes programme and we are looking forward to the fifth annual National Day of Arts in Care Homes on 24 September. It has been wonderful to watch the support for this event growing each year and to be able to highlight the wealth of good work being done involving a wide range of arts in care settings. This year we also hope to identify what is most needed to develop this work going forward, in order to make arts in every care home a reality.”

Hilary Woodhead Executive Director, NAPA

#Reflections

The theme of the fifth year of the current Arts in Care Homes programme, is ‘Reflections’. As the National Day falls on a Sunday this year, it is an opportunity to remember how the arts and creativity can be used in gentle, calm and reflective ways including on a one-to one basis and within end of life and palliative care.

We will also be reflecting on learning gained over the last five years and considering how we can build on it to embed the arts in care provision and support the wellbeing of residents and care workers. It has and continues to be a very challenging time for the care sector. However, throughout this period there has been an enormous commitment from care staff teams and partners to developing meaningful creative engagement through the arts.

“ Access to culture is a human right, as much when living in a care home as anywhere else. We know, however, that there are many care homes that have little in the way of creative opportunities for residents. At the Baring Foundation we are advocating for a systems approach to arts in care to make them more widely available. National Arts in Care Homes Day does a fantastic job each year of showcasing excellent practice – we hope that this year’s event will encourage more homes to get creative on the Day and all year round.”

David Cutler, The Baring Foundation

#DrawingOnMemories

Our creative challenge this year, developed with Drawing Life, is to create drawings and other artwork inspired by happy memories. The arts and creativity can connect and re-connect us with the good times in our lives, as well us helping us during difficult ones. We encourage everyone participating to share their memory drawings, poems and related artwork with us via social media on the day.

Online Programme: Being creative together
NAPA is delighted to partner with leading arts organisations including Living Words, an arts and literature charity and Interact Stroke Support, a charity dedicated to supporting stroke recovery by using professional actors to deliver readings in hospital and online. They will be delivering free online participatory events on the Reflections theme, which will include wellbeing activities for staff workers and simple ideas for developing everyday creativity in care settings.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

To organise and share an event on the day:

• Read our Get Involved pack for ideas and inspiration
• Plan an event involving care setting communities anytime 18-24 September
• Register your event on our website
• Join in our online events during the week of 18 September
• Share pictures and stories with us throughout the week of 18 September on Twitter using @Artsincarehomes #AICH2023
• Take part in our creative challenge #DrawingOnMemories and share memories in the form of drawings, poems, music and performances on Twitter using @Artsincarehomes and Facebook @artsincarenapa