Report

The Art of Poetry Making
Report by
Diane Hinchliffe
October 2015

P a g e | 2
Poetry for self expression
What difference to wellbeing?
Building confidence
What factors for success?
Finding a voice
You, me, we
Together

P a g e | 3
Foreword
At the start of this project I found myself wondering how I had got into it. How come I was
about to embark on facilitating a poetry workshop in care homes? Despite having published
my own poetry I did not classify myself as an artist or a poet, more someone who uses
creativity in a therapeutic way to support a connection with a deeper self and cross bridges
in connecting with others. In considering communication and connection with others, I
wondered how poetry might play a role and opened up questioning of my belief that words
in poetry have power – healing power.
I’m remembering as I reflect that I have always had a connection with words in songs. It was,
and is, often the words that draw me into listening deeper to what the song says and a
search to discover the feeling behind the words, in the silence in between the words.
As I embarked on this journey of working with elderly people in care homes and finding
creative ways to connect with people with dementia, I found myself experiencing a longing
for this work to make a difference, to reach people who have perhaps withdrawn slightly, to
help people re-connect with who they are, to re-connect with one another.
Diane Hinchliffe
Poet in residence

P a g e | 4
Acknowledgements
Arts Council England - for funding the project.
CidaCo - for additional funding from their developing artist grant fund.
Keith Evans - for business coaching which included - believing in me and the work before I
got there, and support and encouragement with the application process.
*John Killick – for ‘noticing’ my skills and bringing me into the fold, for believing in and
helping to spot the difference in my work, for continuous encouragement and support, and
for mentoring me during this project.
Helen Ball - Civic Barnsley for support and encouragement, sharing ideas, creating an
opportunity to showcase the work in exhibition – realising a dream!
Wendy Roper, Barnsley Local Authority - for being interested, enthusiastic and inspired by
the possibilities of the work, and so creating opportunities to promote and showcase the
project to a wider audience in the field.
Enterprising Barnsley - for access to Business Coaching at the start of this journey.
The project would not have been possible without the interest and enthusiasm of the
activities coordinators, Helen and Susannah, at the two care homes Mapplewell Manor and
Highgrove, who both saw a wonderful opportunity for residents and chased me for it! The
project also required the commitment of senior managers who allowed staff protected time
to be involved, including opportunity for care staff to play a part in the project in developing
their skills. Thank you to the staff supporting the residencies: Helen, Andrea, Susannah and
Michelle, who have been an important part of the journey.
Most importantly, a big thank you to the residents at the two care homes for engaging with
the project in such a wonderful way, allowing their stories to become words expressed
through a poem.
Eda, Pauline, Esther, Doreen, Molly, Louise, Lenora, Doreen, Betty, Kathleen, and Les, Rose
(Piroska), Mary, Effie, Ada, Dorothy, Barbara.
* John Killick has a national reputation and extensive experience for producing high quality work as a writer, poetry and
drama/theatre practitioner working with older people including people living with dementia. For the past twenty years he
has worked with people with dementia, publishing five books in this area, many book chapters and papers, and edited six
books of poems by people with the condition.

P a g e | 5
Summary
'There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you' - Maya Angelou
The Art of Poetry Making project has allowed people to tell their untold stories - to talk
about broken hearts, death and dying, loss of self and how things used to be, hopes and
dreams for the future. It has provided a vehicle to give voice to these things, and what’s
more it has enabled these voices to be shared, seen and heard, as poems have been shared
with and read aloud for others to hear.
As a participatory research project, funded by Arts Council England and further supported by
a contribution from CidaCo, the Art of Poetry Making has focused on exploring the following
key areas:
 What difference does involvement in an arts based experience make to individual
wellbeing?
 How might poetry as an art form and a means of self expression give individuals a
voice?
 What factors contribute to the success of a poetry project such as this?
 What role do I as an artist and facilitator play in the outcome?
The project has been delivered in the main via residencies in two care homes in Barnsley. It
has offered opportunity for group and one to one poetry making over a period of ten weeks
in one care home, and six weeks in another. Group sessions generally lasted for one hour
whilst one to one sessions needed to be flexible in time in responding to the individual, to
generalise they could last anything from 30 minutes to an hour. In addition a further one off
session was offered to another organisation – Alzheimer’s Society in further highlighting the
potential of the work and which has resulted in a new commission later this year.
The selected care homes were determined following an initial introduction and presentation
to twelve homes attending the Barnsley Activity Forum, out of which expressions of interest
were received and the two care homes selected based on their ability to commit to the
requirements of the residency (appendix 1).
The two care homes completing the residency programme were Mapplewell Manor and
Highgrove Residential Home, based in different areas of Barnsley. Initially another home had
been identified over Highgrove but unfortunately they pulled out after the first workshop
due to staffing issues. This meant that Highgrove did not receive the full residency term,
reducing time down to six weeks as opposed to the ten weeks experienced by Mapplewell
Manor.
All residents participating gave personal consent to their involvement or, in the case of
individuals with dementia, consent was given on their behalf by family or care home staff
responsible for the care of the individual concerned.

P a g e | 6
In terms of quantitative outputs delivered at the two homes involved in the full residency
programme:
- Sixteen - group sessions have been delivered
- Twenty - one to one sessions have been provided
- Nineteen - residents have participated, of these, fourteen completed the residency
project. There were occasional absences from workshops due to illness
- Eleven residents were individuals living with dementia from early to advanced stages.
- Five residents dropped out of the project in the early weeks with feedback suggesting
that this wasn’t for them. The early drop out meant that replacements were quickly
found of whom everyone remained until the end of the project
In celebrating the achievements of the project, the poetry created has been shared in
various ways:
 Two - ending celebration events, one in each care home, which extended invites to
family and friends and care home staff and managers – totalling twenty guests
attending. Both these events were reported in the local newspaper (appendix 2)
 Two - presentations have been delivered to other care providers across the district in
reaching a wider audience – Barnsley Activity Forum and Barnsley Care Providers
Forum reaching over fifty individuals working in the field
 Particularly important and exciting in raising awareness of the work is a forthcoming
exhibition at the Civic Barnsley in November 2015 and in 2016 some of the work will
be featured as part of South Yorkshire Dementia Creative Arts Exhibition which is to
be held in Barnsley.
It is only in sharing with others, through poetry readings and visual presentations that others
have been able to see and experience the depth of what has been achieved.
The qualitative data is evidenced in the story that follows, and what is clear from what is
presented here is that the project has contributed to building confidence and self esteem,
reduced isolation and loneliness through creating new friendships which continue outside
the group experience; it has enhanced existing skills and developed new skills which have
resulted in independent activity. Essentially it has given people a voice to express their
innermost thoughts and feelings; for me then the project has surely contributed to a greater
sense of wellbeing for those individuals participating.
I started out this project questioning my status as a poet. Thanks to one of the participants
of both group and one to one sessions, I concluded my experience of working with
individuals in this way, feeling more comfortable with the idea that ‘I am a poet’; that I work
as a poetry practitioner facilitating the words of another into poetry on a page, which tells
story and gives meaning to metaphor, words to feelings and voice to unspoken voice.

P a g e | 7
All I did was give you the words and you put the words into poetry.
You are brilliant!
You are a poet anyway.
You are the poet.
Mary
My response to Mary is that it is together that we make meaning and meaning into poetry.

P a g e | 8
Contents
Introduction 9
Part 1: The story of the whole 10
Making group poetry
Poetry one to one
Part 2: Eda’s story 23
Part 3: The academic bit 30
What others say about arts and wellbeing
Part 4: Evaluation 32
Process
Care home staff
Learning
Mentor’s Report
Part 5: Personal Reflections 39
Observations
Key ingredients
Where do I go from here?
Part 6: My story told in poetry 42
Appendix 46
Criteria for care home involvement
Newspaper articles
References

P a g e | 9
Introduction
I set out on this journey with a view to researching the impact of using poetry as an art form
upon the wellbeing of elderly people in care homes, and to include those people whose lives
and voice have been affected by the experience of living with dementia.
Being a questioning person, I wanted to know – can the art of poetry writing make a
difference to people’s lives? If so, what is it about poetry that makes a difference? Is it
poetry alone or is it a set of key ingredients coming together to make a whole? What role
might I, as the facilitator of poetry making, play in this process?
As you might expect, running through this report is a mingling of hearts and voices, told
through poetry and quotes, to give it shape and meaning. Being creative in this way helps
me to tell the stories of those involved in the project, given voice through poetry, as
described by my mentor John Killick, as ‘poetry of natural speech’, and also to share with
you something of the impact hearing individuals’ stories has had on me. Over a hundred
poems have been written during the project, more than can be shared here, a further
selection of these have been built into an anthology which can be read separately.
For ease of reading and interest, I have broken the report into the following parts:
Part 1: The story of the whole – providing an overview of the process involved and the
impact of both group and one to one poetry making sessions.
Part 2: Eda’s story – provides a greater focus on an experience of one to one work which for
me has significantly highlighted the potential working with poetry has upon an individuals’
wellbeing, through the provision of space to give voice to feelings.
Part 3: The academic bit – highlights some of the reading and research uncovered which led
me into this work.
Part 4: Evaluation – provides an overview of the evaluation process and shares some of the
learning that has emerged.
Part 5: Personal reflections – here I share my observations of the work and highlight what I
believe to be key ingredients for a successful poetry project of this kind.
Part 6: My story in poetry – finally I share a few poems which give voice to my own
experience of the journey.

P a g e | 10
Part 1: The story of the whole
Where do I begin?
All seems good on paper
How do I bring words to life?
Diane Hinchliffe 2015

P a g e | 11
Making group poetry
I like to come here cos if I don’t I just stay at home.
Process
Following the model established by John Killick in his work with residents in care homes, an
opportunity to participate in group workshops was offered to elderly residents including
people with dementia, with a view to forming a group of around eight people with a similar
level of verbal communication; in the case of people with dementia, this included individuals
who were in early to mid stages of their condition.
We did not specifically target individuals who had experience of creating poetry, rather
leaving the opportunity open to all who were interested. It was only through building
relationships with individuals that I discovered in the groups were people who had no
previous relationship with poetry other than at school, and that was sometimes not a
favourable experience, some who were visually creative having being a creator of their own
art work, and others who had loved poetry from childhood and in more than one case had
written their own poems which had been featured in poetry books.
‘I didn’t think I would enjoy it, but it’s all been good’
Each week a different focus was brought to the session from which thoughts, feelings,
opinions and individual responses could emerge in response, and which formulated
sentences stitched together to create poetry. Over the course of the residency, groups
engaged with imagery taken from paintings or photography, objects, music and poetry
reading of well know poets. By providing a flexible framework, sometimes poems were
created from a single word or statement that was made in a session which then became a
title for a poem, as in the case of ’Which way to go’; these were words often expressed by
one member of a group during different sessions so I decided to pick it up and see where it
led:
Which way to go
Down the river
Through the wood
Up the stream
Left or right
Round the bend
Don’t know
Because we’re lost
It’s quiet, along the high street
Home and back.
Les, Rose, Effie: 4 August 2015

P a g e | 12
The process of group poetry making has been about involvement of all and contact with
each person in the group to support and encourage sharing of a thought or a feeling, all of
which was captured on flip chart exactly as it was spoken. For me this process was not about
starting from a position of reminiscence work, rather an open page with space to capture
what emerged. It was not about creating poetry that rhymed or looked like that of a famous
poet, but to use poetry as an opportunity to share a truth expressed in natural speech.
Working from this position allowed for metaphor to frame a personal story and give voice to
what may otherwise be unexpressed. Reading between the lines of the poems we can come
to our own conclusions about what personal stories might be being told; occasionally
reminiscence emerged naturally for some individuals in this open process.
My role in this work was as facilitator of the words shared - capturing them on paper, word
by word as shared, not judged or changed in any way by my own interpretations ‘It is
important not to force the poem into a straight jacket provided by rhyme and metre. These
are prose utterances with a poetic quality, and it is important to preserve speech rhythms
wherever possible (Killick 2012:45). It was also a role of encouraging the development of
relationships – resident to resident, resident to staff and vice versa, by modelling a way of
being that accepted what emerged in the room, that encouraged listening beyond what was
initially being expressed, by responding and encouraging to individuals – inviting their
contribution to the whole.
In review sessions with staff one member highlighted how in observing my practice she has
learned to sit back and listen more and that her professional practice as a carer in the home
has been influenced.
‘It has helped me to understand their minds, helped me to sit back, helped me to help them. I have
become more aware of the way residents communicate. I feel humbled to be part of this project and
am learning to keep quiet – ha ha’.
Impact
During the course of the residency the following key outcomes were noticed by staff
participating in the project, and by myself as the facilitator:
Confidence and self esteem - residents were growing in confidence as they played key roles
in reading out poems for the rest of the group to hear, by contributing to the creation of
poetry, and in a number of cases bringing their own poetry to be shared with the group and
elsewhere in the home. Residents celebrated each other’s achievements by offering positive
words and applause, validating the other.
‘I’m enjoying that, I think it’s quite interesting really, then you hear other people’s versions of things, I
like to hear about other people, what they think. Yes I quite like it’

P a g e | 13
Relationship building – residents acknowledged each other at the start of each session as
part of our group welcome activity, and shared how they talked to each other outside the
sessions for example saying hello at lunchtimes. Relationships were also built with the care
home staff in a different way than experienced before, and with myself as the facilitator.
Shared laughter when using some of the stimuli i.e. a session trying on different hats,
became a memorable session which residents often talked about together - ‘do you
remember when’
‘Well it’s nice to meet different people – make new friends’
An opportunity for self expression – through the use of different creative stimuli to
encourage poetry to be written, individuals have been invited to engage with all their senses
- to use their imagination, to say what they think, what they see, what they feel, what they
believe, to respond to what they hear; to tell their own story and allow others to tell theirs.
‘Well I think its different people’s experience and using your imagination’
Belonging – coming together as a group allowed friendships to develop which did not
already exist, and where individuals moved from spending time alone to being with others.
All of the group in one of the homes in particular expressed very strongly the importance of
making new friends through this experience, and one lady stated that being part of the
group felt like being part of a family which was echoed in agreement by the others.
‘It’s like belonging to a family, got to know each other, love everyone’
One of the members explored giving the group a name - ‘the thinking group / the thinking
squad’, to reflect her experience of the process. Choosing a name for a group that you are a
part of also helps create a sense of belonging.
Developing new skills, re-igniting past skills
In both care homes were individuals who were creative, some bringing skills from the past -
an artist, a poet whose poems had been included in a ‘book of a hundred poems’, and others
whose imagination blossomed throughout the project and were inspired to write their own
poems outside the sessions and thus creating independent activity, not reliant on what
structured activities might offer at a certain point in the day.
‘You’ve opened up a lot for me. Thank you’

P a g e | 14
Improved wellbeing – our sense of wellbeing is impacted by many factors with our physical
and emotional health having a central role in how we are in the world. In addition to the
impact areas already highlighted above, the project has contributed to wellbeing through
giving a focus in the day, something to look forward to, to take part in, to contribute to and
having contributed leaving people with a sense of positivity. In the course of the residency
timescale physical illness presented itself in different forms and was on occasion a barrier for
attending, however, on more than one occasion an individual’s desire to participate enabled
an emotional change to occur.
‘I feel better for coming. Not made me feel better, but it’s your head it works on’
For one gentleman, whose mobility was occasionally impacted by an onset of his Parkinson’s
disease, his determination to attend meant that staff in the care home were involved in
locating a wheelchair for someone to bring him to the session. On other occasions his speech
had been affected and so we found paper and pen for him to write down what he wanted to
share, to ensure his involvement in the session. His response at the end of the session was
whispered yet heard and felt.
‘Thank you’
I finish this section with a final quote from one of the group members who is moving into
mid stages of dementia, which to me is in itself a statement that speaks much more about
emotional and physical memory than the cognitive process.
‘It’s something we will never forget’

P a g e | 15
A selection of group poems

P a g e | 16
What is poetry?
It’s a rhyme
Words that people love
Something you write and read and enjoy
Do a lot of work as well
Describing something
Can be very good
Can be very bad
Depends what it’s like
Poetry is putting words together.
Les, Effie, Rose, Mary
28 July 2015
Poetry to me
It explains a lot of things,
and it’s been interesting, trying to work them all out
I used to love poetry, when I was well
It tells you different things, about what you’re thinking
The verses you learn
I like it if it’s good
There’s a lot of it not good, I’m afraid
It involves a lot of people, not just one person
Everybody can be part of it
We were encouraged to get it better at school
Poetry’s a bit like writing
When you’re writing a book, it’s like poetry
It’s good how you can read them
It’s good how you can write them
It gives you something to do,
of interest.
Les, Rose, Mary, Effie
25 August 2015

P a g e | 17
Empty seats
They’ve lost their owners.
Well, there’s nobody around.
They’ve lost their owners,
but they’ve gained as well.
There’s no children,
and there should be, in a park.
Don’t know why,
perhaps the seats are wet.
It can’t be a nice day
You’ve got to think,
there’s a reason, why they’re all there.
It gives me a feeling of loneliness.
It looks like these seats need decorating.
It wouldn’t be like this on a nice day.
They don’t match.
They need painting.
With your friends, sat together, and doing a conflab together.
I should think there’ll be a lot there.
Each ones got a different meaning.
It’s the togetherness.
There’s got to be a reason, why they’re all here.
It’s a bit depressing, because there’s nobody around.
I’m just looking, it’s not sunshine, its snow.
The sun must be shining because there’s no shadow.
It makes me feel lonely.
Not uplifting.
You’ve got to think,
It’s what you make it.
Leonora, Doreen, Doreen, Pauline, Esther, Molly, Louise
24 August 2015

P a g e | 18
Poetry one to one
‘I’ve talked more to you face to face, one to one, than I’ve talked to anybody about my feelings, my
church, and everything, yes I have’
Process
I visited each of the participants involved in one to one work in their own room. Some of the
work was undertaken with residents who were also part of the group workshops, whilst
others were residents unable to attend the group sessions for reasons of health - one being
bed-bound, or because they had difficulty being part of a group. In one home I worked with
a lady throughout the majority of the residency period, this work is described further in
Eda’s story, whilst others were visits over two or three weeks; in the case of the existing
group members these were one off sessions to follow up some of the stories I had observed
being shared in the group setting.
This work had its focus on the stories of the individuals with little or no use of external
stimuli to engage with. To support me to maintain contact with individuals I used audio
recording to capture all that was being shared out of which I created the poems, returning
them typed up the following week for agreement. Working with audio recordings meant
that the post production work was time consuming yet valuable, as it meant that I was able
to stay in relationship with the other during the process of sharing.
My role in this work was about listening, presence and ‘being with’- creating a therapeutic
space of respect and silence, offering little prompting and questioning to enable a
conversation to begin and stories to emerge. Sometimes my role weaved in and out of
creating poetry as I responded to sadness being expressed. It is here in this work that I found
my skills as a therapist invaluable in enabling a resident to touch some of their deepest
emotions that had perhaps been unexpressed for some time and were now being given a
voice through poetry.
Impact
What was particularly noticeable was the difference in intensity of one to one work from
group sessions, and I feel clear that this way of working offers a very powerful intervention
for supporting individual wellbeing.

P a g e | 19
Creating space to give voice to untold stories – one of the key elements of this work has
been the opportunity for individuals to share their personal stories and innermost feelings
simply by being given time and space to talk and be listened to. To then have ones story
captured into the written word as poetry has validated each person’s experience, and
allowed a voice to be shared which might not otherwise have been heard.
‘I never thought people would be able to hear what I want to say’
Healing process – a space to talk to tell untold stories has also provided a space for hurt to
be expressed and tears to be shed. One lady often struggled to come out of her room and
join in activities in the home. Whilst she was a member of the group poetry sessions, her
words were of not having anything to offer any more. I decided one day to visit her for a one
to one session, where she talked to me in more depth about being stuck in the past, the past
being the death of her son. She hadn’t talked to me about his before. From her story three
pages of poetry have been created which express her pain of losing a child and the difficulty
she finds in the here and now of moving on from that experience.
‘I’m never smiling anymore, I’m always miserable. It goes back to losing my son. I’ve never been the
same since. Six years now’.
This lady was amazed when I visited her the following week to share with her what had
emerged into words in a poem. She couldn’t believe how much she had spoken to me. On
the day of the celebration she read aloud two of her poems, one of which was another of
the poems we had created about her son. Here I believe an opportunity for healing was
taking place.
Validation – we hear often how older people, especially on moving into care homes, feel
that they no longer have purpose – nothing to share, nothing to offer, and can start to
withdraw from the social world around them. This project allowed for peoples experiences
and achievements to be recognised, it allowed space for an individual’s own story to be
heard, respected and celebrated by others.
‘I did so enjoy our meeting together. I felt like an older person, loved and respected, by you’.
Improved wellbeing – once again, as with the group sessions, one to one work has
contributed to a sense of wellbeing by providing space for someone to hear what has been
kept silent within the body for some people for many years, which returns me to the quote
already highlighted in this report by Maya Angelou:
'There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you'

P a g e | 20
A selection of poetry from one to one work

P a g e | 21
I’ll still keep going
I’ll not be long
As I’m going
Don’t matter how long it takes
On and on
Here and there
Everywhere
Barbara
21 July 2015
More independence
It’s only a year since it happened
But feels like a long time
Everything came together
To get up out of bed myself
Get in and out of bed
To use the toilet
That would be nice
More independence
Dorothy
4 August 2015

P a g e | 22
I’m full of imagination
I’m very imaginative,
I’m always imagining things
I also like to delve deeply into things,
I like to know the ins and outs of anything
I’ve a very vivid imagination
I think
About everything really
I just like to delve
That’s the word
Delve
I’m full of imagination.
Louise
10 August 2015
Everything in poetry
When you’ve never done anything like this before
Your brain is not up to it right
Where it should fit in
Your brain has to have time getting used to it
And then you find
It can use whatever you think then
And you can remember it line from line
If I hear it anywhere
I make it into a poem of my own
In fact, I’ve got terrible
That’s the trouble with me now
I’m thinking of everything in poetry
Somebody says something to you
You don’t think of the answer
Just what you can put into poetry instead
I never thought I should get so mixed up in poetry.
Pauline
10 August 2015

P a g e | 23
Part 2: Eda’s story
‘It means a great deal to me because of all the things I’d like to bring to this meeting or
anything else is poetry and I’m thrilled to bits’

P a g e | 24
Eda
My feeling is that poetry is also a healing process, and then when a person tries to write poetry with
depth or beauty, he will find himself guided along paths which will heal him, and this is more
important, actually, than any of the poetry he writes.
- Robert Bly
Eda is a lady of 91 years of age who had a love of poetry but was unable to join the group
sessions, for a variety of reasons – health, mobility, confidence, belonging, and a fear of
what others would think of her.
Eda is diagnosed as in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and was clear in her
comparisons that somehow this was a different experience than having any other disability:
It’s a different world
You see a lot of these people
have got like an injured leg,
or an injured knee,
got that one injury.
They’ve not got Alzheimer’s,
I think I have,
I think I’ve got Alzheimer’s;
It’s a different world.
Eda
6 July 2015
As I arrived at Eda’s door for my first meeting with her she was laying down on her bed, she
shared how she was in pain and still she welcomed my taking the time to sit with her. As we
talked her tears began to flow and she apologised - she was not used to showing her
emotions. Eda shared her love of poetry and asked that I read to her from her favourite
books. This first session was also the beginning of taking Eda’s stories and creating them into
poetry. Her final words at the end of this session offer a remarkable account of the impact
poetry can have upon a person’s emotional and physical wellbeing:
‘It’s been the most fulfilling hour, or however long it’s been. I haven’t any pain now’
For a further seven weeks I joined Eda in her room. We spent time together - sometimes
with me reading poetry to her from her favourite books, and mostly my listening to her
stories and writing down key points to support an audio recording to be listened to later,
and from which to create the poems. As with the group poetry I had very little input into the
story, my role was to act as listener and scribe and then to type what had been shared for
Eda to check, amend as required and agree to the following week.

P a g e | 25
What I discovered in this process was the importance of poetry for giving Eda a voice to
share her feelings, thoughts, experiences and memories of childhood, being married, having
family; and now in this space her experience of living in a care home. Eda often shared how
she was moving towards the end phase of her life’s journey, into death. As a therapist with
experience of supporting people through bereavement I wondered how often a space is
created for people to talk about death, their death. I have observed in this work many
people talking about death, and for some their feelings and thoughts dismissed as
something not to be talked about. In my work with Eda I feel that with the combination of
poetry as an external focus, and my skills to support this conversation, Eda was able to talk
freely about her innermost feelings. Importantly poetry had also allowed her words to be
written down to be shared with family.
During one session I was able to meet with Eda’s daughter and granddaughter who thanked
me profusely for involving her in the project. They felt it had offered her a meaningful
experience and they enjoyed hearing and reading her work. My next to last poetry meeting
with Eda resulted in an invitation from her to create a shared poem, which I found moving
on reading it back to her with her family present. The final section in italics was my
contribution to our shared poem:
How can we sum it up?
You’ve everything to live for
I think it’s lovely that you write poetry
How can we sum it up?
Diane came this morning
It was one of our writing days
And she was obviously delighted
So what I would suggest
Before we go any further
We write a line or two about ourselves
So I’ll start, and you go on
I’ve come to see my new friend
She’s waiting for me at the door
She’s always got a smile on her face
Because that’s her greeting
You go on from there
I like to sit beside her
I feel her in my heart
I like to hear her words
The wisdom she imparts
Eda and Diane
10 August 2015

P a g e | 26
Just as Eda has found what she describes as a bond in poetry – ‘If you love poetry, somebody
else loves poetry, there’s that bond’, it is true to say that I also experienced the bond as I
found myself learning much from her in our shared experience. This serves as a reminder of
the importance of building relationship with the individual resident as ‘poet’, whilst always
remembering and reminding that this time together is short and will come to an end. The
question is - how in the intimacy created in the environment of such deep work do we
prepare the ‘poet’ for our ending?
Our conversations have created thirty nine poems of Eda’s thoughts, feelings, memories,
highs and lows; many of them offer a note of learning for the carers who look after her each
day at this difficult time in her life. There is limited space here to reflect Eda’s story in
poetry. My plan is to build them into an exhibition, showcasing as much of her work as
possible as part of the South Yorkshire Dementia Creative Arts exhibition in 2016, which has
a central theme of senses.

P a g e | 27
A selection of Eda’s poems

P a g e | 28
It is nice to be asked
I just love the way you ask,
do you mind me using this?
do you mind me reading that?
I like that
Because too much today is taken for granted
I can do this,
I can do that,
I can do the other.
Your thoughts
are your thoughts
never the less,
it is nice to be asked.
It’s very, very nice
I like that
I love it to be a request
A request
is part of you
To be asked
To be requested
It’s very, very nice.
Eda
27 July 2015
Unseen uniforms
I don’t like army life
and that’s what it’s like
army life.
They put on these blasted uniforms
unseen uniforms really.
People wear these things
that you can’t see
but they’re there
you know they’re there.
Eda
6 July 2015

P a g e | 29
There must be something
I am going to tell you, here and now,
tell your people, that come to your class,
they must have some intonation
of wanting to be with people of the same ilk,
like me.
There must be something
that draws the lot of us together,
there must be something.
I am grateful,
even at this late stage in my life,
to be part of what you are.
You started this, good for you!
Although people don’t realise it, they need it.
They need an escape from everyday language,
of chit chat.
Really and truly, you’re needed.
Whatever anybody else says to you,
you’re needed,
So put that in your pipe and smoke it!
It’s marvellous.
It’s necessary.
I know people that have had heartache,
real heartache,
and they can’t let go,
they can’t let it go,
so this is a good way of doing it.
It’s very very nice,
very very nice.
Eda
27 July 2015

P a g e | 30
Part 3: The academic bit

P a g e | 31
What others say about the arts and wellbeing
In the process of planning this project and asking my own questions of the impact of poetry
upon wellbeing I came across many articles and books, all pointing in the same direction -
that creative arts has the potential to offer a space for individuals to share their story and in
doing so connect and reconnect with unexpressed emotions, memories of the past, feelings
in the here and now; that there is a healing opportunity available through creative self
expression which ultimately makes a difference to individual wellbeing.
Sir Peter Bazalgette, Chair of Arts Council England highlighted himself in his article ‘Use the
arts to boost the nation’s health’ (Observer 28 December 2014:33), that more and more
health and social care providers are turning to the arts to help boost wellbeing as a form of
prevention rather than cure and that the arts is also about enriching lives too.
Further research and books that I have discovered in relation to arts and wellbeing can be
found as a reference point in (appendix 3).
What I highlight here are references which make sense to me in terms of my experience in
this project.
Hayes & Povey in their book ‘The Creative Arts in Dementia Care’ (2006) identify how
creativity can be an essential source of self expression for older people in their final phase of
life, including people with dementia, which was certainly true in my experience of one to
one work:
‘It is most important we realize that creativity has something to tell us. It has something to
say about our inner life… Art is perceived as having a link with our lives past, present and
future. Art may reveal personal thoughts and feelings: ‘configurations of self’ (Mearns and
Cooper 2006). It is possible too that art may reveal deeper patterns of destiny (Woodman
1993) which show a greater story as we near the threshold of life and death’ (Hayes & Povey
2006:16).
With a particular focus on poetry and storytelling Killick (2012) reminds us how storytelling is
an everyday part of who we are, how we interact in the world, that we all have a need to tell
our stories including people with dementia:
‘How do people with dementia fit into all this? Well they are people first, and the dementia is
an add-on, so they must have a need to tell their stories just like the rest of us’ (Killick
2012:58)

P a g e | 32
Fox (1995) highlights how writing poetry can provide many opportunities for healing as it
helps us come into contact with and give voice to our deepest feelings:
‘Writing poetry can return you to your “most human”. It can provide a meadow in which to
share your love and joy, your loneliness and longing. A home for your bewilderment. A
healing place for your anger…..Poetry draws out your unique voice and reaches your deepest
feelings (Fox 1995:3).
In referencing the above it offers reinforcement to my own work and belief in the
importance of giving voice to who we are and the emotions that we feel in response to our
lives and our death. I believe that poetry provides us with a voice that those closest to us
often feel more able to hear. Without this voice our wellbeing is restricted, and an unspoken
voice can become physical ailments in a cry for help and comfort.
‘In our stereotypical ageist society it has become more acceptable for older people to
complain about arthritis or constipation than about their broken heart or lost dreams’
(Lipinska 2009:80).

P a g e | 33
Part 4: Evaluation

P a g e | 34
Evaluation
Process
Evaluations have been undertaken in different ways and have included all people coming
into contact with the project - residents, the staff involved, care home managers, and in
addition feedback was invited from guests –family and professionals, attending the two
celebration events.
Residents – engaged in feedback at the end of each session, with a final evaluation activity
at the end of the project based around three questions.
- What have you enjoyed most about the poetry project?
- What difference has being involved in the poetry project made to you?
- What could we do different next time to make it more enjoyable?
A poem ‘What is poetry’ was also created at the beginning of the project and followed up
with a poem ‘Poetry to me’ created at the end to determine whether any thoughts had
changed in their view of poetry.
Support staff - were invited to complete a pre and post project questionnaire which have
been supported by ongoing discussions throughout the project and a final meeting at the
end of the project
Home managers - were invited to complete a pre and post project questionnaire.
Unfortunately due to staffing changes only one home manager completed both parts.
Event guests - informal feedback invited via a worksheet document containing a star shape
for writing in.
Much of the impact of the project upon the wellbeing of residents has already been
highlighted throughout the report, with this in mind this next section will highlight thoughts
and feelings of the care home staff involved in the project.
Care home staff
Working with poetry was new to all staff supporting the project and whilst they were looking
forward to their involvement, all four said they weren’t sure how it would work, and in some
cases questioning how comfortable they felt working with a new and different activity than
ordinarily sat well in their comfort zone.
When asked at the start of the project what they hoped to achieve from their involvement
one member of staff reported:
‘opening up my comfort zone being responsible for residents with poetry and different units’

P a g e | 35
All staff were clear at the outset that they wanted to learn the skills to continue with the
poetry session once the residency had ended:
‘A new given area - in this instance ‘Poetry’, to be able to continue with the residents for supporting
individual wellbeing for the future’
‘To be able to implement poetry in the long term into our activities programme’
A range of feelings were identified at the start of the project:
‘Very excited and confident that this will be a positive, creative and fulfilling exercise for them
(residents)’
‘Excited at the thought of starting it’
‘Enthusiastic and terrified’
‘Very much looking forward to seeing the engagement/reactions from different residents and benefits
they will achieve from the residency’
The feedback shared at the start of the project provides evidence of the importance of
engaging the interest and excitement of staff involved. The enthusiasm of staff for the
project was able to extend to the engagement of residents, and in doing so contribute to
creating the environment for the residency. After all it is the staff of the care home that has
the existing relationships with residents before an external facilitator steps in, and will be
the sustainers of the project when the external facilitator steps out again.
Being that this work was also about developing a sustainable model, it was important to
engage with staff throughout the project and invite their involvement in leading a session
towards the end of the residency. For one member of staff in particular, this opportunity
was the catalyst for opening up her creative thinking; to the point that any future outings
with residents included taking photography suggestions from the residents, which could be
introduced in future sessions as stimuli to create new poetry. At the point of writing this
report this member of staff is now half way through facilitating her own group poetry
programme and is involving residents in bringing their own stimuli to sessions. Her long term
plan is to offer 10 week blocks at different points in the year, which will each end with a
sharing of the poetry created by the ‘poets’ with other residents in the home.
As the residency programme drew to a close I invited staff to complete a final evaluation and
take part in further discussions.
The following quotes from the evaluations highlight the key areas of impact of the project as
experienced by the staff upon both residents and their own personal practice:
 I believe that some residents’ health and wellbeing has been continuously growing

P a g e | 36
 I believe residents’ confidence has improved due to personal readings of their poems
at celebration events
 It has made my job as a care assistant more fulfilling being able to be in a small group
with no interruption
 I have become more aware of the way residents communicate, their moods, their
memories, their social interaction
 I have felt /feel humbled to be part of this project and am learning to keep quiet
 It has risen their (residents) self esteem and confidence and they are more verbal
with each other
 It has given them a voice in a way it might not otherwise be heard
 Filled the gap (activities) for some residents – enjoyed the calmness of poetry
 The whole project has given the majority of residents a whole confidence boost –
giving them something to think about, talk about and work towards (next session)
 They (residents) have been given a platform to express themselves where they may
have not had before
 Residents’ involved seem calmer and have started producing their own poetry
 This project has given me a bigger insight to residents personalities and has enabled
me to apply what I have learnt to other activities – music, reminiscence
 This has without question boosted the residents’ confidence. They speak out more
easily and are more willing to express themselves
Staff identified the following key factors as contributory to the successful outcomes of the
project
 Small group size (maximum 8 residents)
 Flexibility
 Humour
 Everyone having a voice
 Dynamics from different ages, backgrounds, even through similar memories
 An excellent facilitator – great skills, organisation
 Commitment from all parties to achieve the goals
 Enthusiasm, patience, drive to continue future sessions
 Same residents every week
 Same staff
 Fully engaging each and every resident
 Making it fun and enjoyable every week
 Residents being able to express thoughts and emotions
 Residents being able to be proud of what they have created

P a g e | 37
One of the areas for research in this project was to give consideration to the role of the
facilitator and so I asked the question of staff – ‘how has the facilitator influenced the
project outcomes?’
 She has been flexible to the needs of the group
 She is approachable and relaxing to be around – people open up
 She has brought a calmness to the group
 Built a great rapport
 Relaxing, calming atmosphere has been achieved
 Inspirational
 Being a poet and a therapist
Staff were asked whether their view of poetry had altered in terms of engaging residents
and as an art form:
 It has been a great journey in how to engage our residents in the Art of Poetry
Creations and now I understand how easy it is to facilitate the group sessions
 I now see my surroundings, images, objects and could quite easily turn them into
creating a poem. I’ve grown to appreciate poetry – its calm nature – I welcome this!
 I didn’t realise just how engaging it can be, you can see their (residents) minds
ticking. They express feelings and emotions that you never realised they had and
maybe wouldn’t express if it were not for the poetry
 I didn’t realise just how moving it can be
 Poetry seemed to me to be for scholars / elite and I have seen how it (poetry) is for
anyone at all – it can bring a room together even for a short time – PRICELESS.
Just as I asked staff for their feelings at the start of the project I did so again at the end:
 Sad that it’s finished but happy that I was able to participate
 More professional
 Another activity I didn’t know I could do – fabulous
 Very proud to have achieved fabulous results – the whole project has given me
another area ‘new subject’ to offer our residents in the very near future
 Very sad that Diane is leaving us, I have so enjoyed working with her and learnt so
much, but excited to have learnt skills that I can use moving forward doing poetry
workshops of my own.
‘Not everyone came as a poet but left as one’

P a g e | 38
A celebration of poetry making
Poetry inspires and opens up imagination
It’s …
Inspiring,
Funny,
Enjoyable.
A wonderful way of opening hearts and minds
It’s …
Heartfelt
Touching
Sad.
It should be available in every home
It’s …
Inclusive
Friendly
and brings everyone out.
My sister-in-law I saw through different eyes today
It’s …
Amazing
Wonderful
Magical
Unbelievable.
It’s …
Very moving.
Thank you!
Poem created from feedback from guests attending Mapplewell Manor Poetry Celebration Event
17 August 2015
Edited by Diane Hinchliffe

P a g e | 39
Learning
Process
 As an external facilitator, time spent at the beginning of the project preparing care
home staff and engaging their enthusiasm is an important contributory factor to the
success of the work that follows
 Creating a safe space which includes: a welcome, encouragement to share, is
respectful of difference and ability, is inclusive, flexible and responsive to what
emerges in the space - is important to the development of a sustainable group. Such
a space sets the scene for positive relationship with others
 Support staff, with a role of responding to any individual needs that arise are
essential to the ease of facilitation of group workshops
 Different stimuli - objects, imagery, music, provide a useful focus for engaging
imagination and creative thinking
 One to one work is different from group work in its facilitation, requiring more
silence and less stimuli from the facilitator - rather the provision of a ‘space’ for
individuals to be heard
Impact upon wellbeing
 Group poetry sessions create space for common ground and in doing so offer
opportunity for the development of lasting friendships, reducing isolation and
loneliness
‘It’s brought me to know more people, and friends’
 Poetry inspires people and brings them into contact with their own creativity - past,
present and future, offering opportunity to reminisce or start anew developing new
skills of poetry writing
 Poetry gives people a voice to share their deepest thoughts and feelings which may
have never been expressed before, and as the poem takes its shape on paper it
provides the reader with a new perspective of the writer, thus offering potential to
enhance relationships
‘It’s sort of getting over what you want to tell people, and say it in a nice way’
 Poetry provides a focus outside the physical sense of self, offering opportunity for an
improved feeling of wellbeing
 Putting the individual voice onto paper as poetry validates that individuals experience

P a g e | 40
 Reading aloud the poetry created provides a sense of achievement thus boosting
confidence and self esteem
 Poetry has the potential to engage with the creative and spiritual elements of who we
are as people, and in doing so celebrates the whole of who we are – physically,
emotionally, spiritually
‘It tells you different things, about what you’re thinking’
One of the strongest messages emerging from this work is that poetry has the potential to
give voice to what might otherwise be unexpressed thoughts, feelings and emotions, which
as a result and without doubt must surely contribute to a better sense of individual
wellbeing.
From a personal perspective this project has been about poetry as a form of self expression
and much, much, more, for everyone involved, including me.
Mentor’s Report
I attended two planning meetings with Diane, and a celebration in one of the care homes,
where I was able to talk to both participants and staff. In between times we have kept in
close contact by phone and email. She has kept me aware at all times of progress, and we
have discussed problems as they arose.
From mentoring Diane in a previous project I had already identified her as a person with real
potential for this kind of work. In this project, planned, funded and carried out as a single-
handed enterprise, she realised it.
Her empathy for the residents, courtesy towards staff, and her feeling for the creative
possibilities of this way of working make her ideal for the role of poetry therapist, one that is
underdeveloped in Britain. Others might have more poetic experience, but few can claim her
emotional sensibility. It is obvious from this report, and the words of some of the
participants, that her impact has been profound. Indeed, some of her observations, both
acute and comprehensive, with her permission, I have already absorbed into my training. I
sincerely hope that more opportunities to use and develop her talents may be found.
JOHN KILLICK

P a g e | 41
Part 5: Personal Reflections

P a g e | 42
This section provides me an opportunity to share my personal observations during the
course of the work and to highlight what I believe to be key ingredients for enabling a
successful poetry project of this kind. I guess the recipe is that which is created in the mix,
with all those engaged and involved in the poetry making process.
Observations
Over the course of this experience I have been struck by:
 the number of residents who are grieving - for loved ones lost, for loss of a sense of
self, loss of independence
 the number of residents waiting to die – individuals feeling too old or too ill or too
lonely to continue with life
 residents who haven’t spoken for some time about how they really feel - about issues
from the past or this current stage in their life
 the loneliness – of living in a home that is not your home and surrounded by people
who are not your family
 in some cases, the lack of care, time, and support available for people who find it
hard to take part in group activity
 how working with poetry has given people a space to talk, to share, to be heard
 one to one work as particularly powerful, given time and space
 how this project has been more than poetry; it has offered a therapeutic space for
healing.
Key ingredients
From feedback gathered along the way these are my key ingredients for a successful poetry
project which seeks to provide a therapeutic space for self expression and create space for
the unspoken voice to be heard:
 A skilled facilitator experienced in engaging and communicating with individuals and
groups
 Being with, rather than doing to
 Involving
 Presence
 Empathy
 Attunement
 Time
 Building relationship
 Accepting and receiving what is offered, and without judgement

P a g e | 43
 Permission seeking
 Respectful questioning
 Active listening
 Writing what is said not what you, the facilitator, want to write
 Silence – let creativity emerge in the silence
 Go with the flow
 Flexibility
 Creating space for a moment by moment experience
 A belief in infinite possibilities
 A belief in people
 A belief that poetry making can make a difference to individual wellbeing
 An ability to hear people’s words and bring them together into form
Where do I go from here?
What I wasn't able to do in the timescale of this project is work with people in more
advanced stages of dementia. Some might say that we cannot create poetry with people
who have no verbal capacity and I guess this is true, but what about reading poetry and as
an artist writing poetry in the presence of the person whose voice is contained within; or
indeed the poet themselves writing from a place of intuitive presence, sitting at the feet of
that person and sensing within oneself the feelings that may be in the field, the space in the
silence between poet and person?
Hayes et al raises a key point about end of life and what is described as 'social death' which
seems to me to give a good description of what happens to people in later stages of
dementia:
‘… not only is dying in a physical sense potentially ambiguous, there are other forms of death that
may add to the loneliness and marginalisation experienced by many people as they approach the end
of life… Social death occurs when people are removed from mainstream society. It may be brought
about as communication and interaction with the person who is dying can become increasingly
difficult. It may accompany isolation and loss of a sense of being useful or valued that is experienced
by too many older people’ Hayes etal (2014:15).
Time and again I have seen people in late stages of dementia isolated as they are no longer
able to communicate in a way we understand as the norm. My question then is - how might
the arts, poetry, cross a bridge to reconnect and help people to continue to live until they
die?

P a g e | 44
This thought returns me to one of my very early question at the start of this project - what
role do I as the artist play in this work, and I wonder - does it take a certain kind of person to
sit in the presence of death and to create artistic work?
My next question emerging as I reflect is - where do I want to go from here?
My response - facilitating poetry in hospice care, hospitals, end of life care in nursing homes,
and I wonder is this where the therapist as the poet join forces and become one?

P a g e | 45
Part 6: My story told in poetry

P a g e | 46
Standing at the Edge
I’m standing at the edge
Old voices starting to emerge
Chastening and challenging
The very essence of who I am
Asking a worn out question
Of days gone by
‘Who do you think you are?’
Causing me to doubt
To fear, to question
Who do I think I am?
What makes me think I can do this work?
I hear the voices
And feel the fear
Rise deep within me
Causing me to question
What am I doing?
Can I do this?
You’ve done it now girl
Prove yourself!
Words that taunt me
Haunt me
Challenging the very essence of who I am
And still
I stand here
At the very edge
Determined
Encouraged to step out
Into the wilderness
And find what I’ve been looking for
For a life time
Me.
Diane Hinchliffe

P a g e | 47
Our pencils are the speakers
Could it really be,
these words falling
to paper
like teardrops
taking shape,
smudging outer layers
are inner stories
from my soul,
and this time
someone listens,
my pencil is the speaker
Diane Hinchliffe
Could it really be,
that my words,
helping your words,
falling gently
into shape,
as teardrops fall
to the page,
our pencils
are the speakers,
of what
we want to say.
Is it really possible,
that words
falling fast,
from the tip,
yet from the depths,
offer new perspective
of vision
of untold stories
now bringing
healing
to my soul
beauty
to my heart

P a g e | 48
A truth discovered in listening
When you truly listen
Your body feels
The joy, the sadness, the pain,
Of the one you have taken time
To be with.
What then of your response?
I discovered -
Stories untold
Laying silent for years
Until a meeting of souls
Unlocked fear, and gave release.
I discovered -
Delight, in loving memories
Held deep in heart
In time, in space
In sharing
Helped to hold and frame.
I discovered -
Life and death
Joy and sadness
Longing and yearning
A hearts cry
For more
For release
To let go.
What now of my response?
As my body holds the stories
Real stories
Real people’s stories
Life’s stories.
What now of my response?
Diane Hinchliffe

P a g e | 50
Appendix 1: Criteria for involvement
Creative Communication for Elderly Wellbeing
An Arts Council England funded project
Introduction:
Creative Communication for Elderly Wellbeing is an action research project supported by
funding from Arts Council England and CidaCo, and is to be delivered by Diane Hinchliffe.
The key focus of the research is to explore the impact of working with poetry as a means of
self expression upon individual wellbeing.
Project Facilitator:
Diane Hinchliffe has been working in the field of community and participatory work for over
20 years and has built a profile as someone with an ability to engage with all age groups,
including older people and people with dementia. As an artist, Diane utilises creative
methods such as creative writing, poetry, storytelling and photography, to engage
individuals and groups in therapeutic self-expression.
Research questions:
As an action research project focusing on the impact upon individual wellbeing of
participants, the following questions will act as a basis for exploration:
 What difference does involvement in an art based experience make to individual
wellbeing?
 How might poetry as an art form and a means of self expression give individuals a
voice?
 What factors contribute to the success of a poetry project such as this?
It is intended that learning and any poetry produced from the project will be disseminated to
different interested audiences via reports, presentations, and exhibition.
Target Group:
 There will funding for two care homes in Barnsley to take part in this first stage
project
 Participants will be residents of the care homes, including people living with
dementia
Participant Consent:
 Participants will consent to their involvement
 Written consent will need to be obtained for involvement in this research project
 Written consent will need to be obtained for any photographs taken during the
sessions
 Further consent will be sought from participants if any poems from the workshop are
to be shared in future reports and exhibitions.
cont…

P a g e | 51
Process:
 Each care home will be involved in an eight week residency – one session per week
 Sessions will last two hours
 Sessions will be a mix of group work and individual one to one work
 Groups will be a maximum of 8 residents – who will engage wherever possible with
the full 8 week programme
Timescales:
 May 2015: Project planning including care home selection process
 June – August 2015: Project delivery
 August – September 2015: Project Evaluation
 September / October 2015: Dissemination of learning
Care home selection criteria:
Care homes interested in being involved in the project will have a genuine interest in
exploring how the arts, and in this instance poetry, can be a valuable tool for supporting
individual wellbeing.
Care homes involved will need to have:
 care home manager support for the work to be undertaken
 a nominated member of staff as a point of contact throughout the residency
 a designated private space where the workshops will happen
 commitment to collaboration on the research aspects of the project
 an interest in exploring options for sustainability beyond the life of the initial project
Next steps:
To register an interest please contact Diane Hinchliffe by 20 May 2015.
Tel: 07711 682048
Email: dianehinchliffe@blueyonder.co.uk
Interested care homes will be contacted to arrange a meeting for further discussion. Final
decisions will be made in conjunction with John Killick – Project Mentor and Wendy Roper
Workforce Development - BMBC.

P a g e | 52
Appendix 2: Article in local newspaper
Barnsley Chronicle: 28 August 2015
Barnsley Chronicle:
25 September 2015

P a g e | 53
Appendix 3:
References
Bazalgette, P. (2014) ‘Use the arts to boost the nation’s health’. Observer 28 December, 33
Fox, J. (1995) Finding What You Didn’t Lose: Expressing Your Truth and Creativity Through
Poem-Making. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher / Putman
Hayes, A., Henry, C., Holloway, M., Lindsey, K., Sherwen, E., Smith, T. (2014) Pathways
through Care at the End of Life. London: Jessica Kingsley
Hayes, J & Povey, S. (2011) The Creative Arts in Dementia Car. London: Jessica Kingsley
Killick, J & Craig, C. (2012) Creativity and Communication in Persons with Dementia. London:
Jessica Kingsley
Lipinski, D. (2009) Person-Centred Counselling for People with Dementia. London: Jessica
Kingsley
Further reading
Books / Articles
Brenner, T & Brenner, K. You Say Goodbye and We Say Hello: The Montessori Method for
Positive Dementia Care. Bristol: Brown Trout Publishing UK Ltd.
Fox, J. (1997) Poetic Medicine: The Healing Art of Poem Making. New York: Jeremy P.
Tarcher / Putman
Glazner, G. (2014) Dementia Arts: Celebrating Creativity in Elder Care. Baltimore: HPP
Jennings, L. (ed.) (2014) Welcome to Our World: A collection of life writing by people living
with dementia. Canterbury: Forget-Me-Knots
Rylatt, P. (2012) The benefits of creative therapy for people with dementia. Nursing Standard.
26, 33, 42-47. Date of acceptance: February 17 2012
Tegner, I., Fox, J., Philipp, R., Thorne, P. (2009) ‘Evaluating the use of poetry to improve well-
being and emotional resilience in cancer patients’. Journal of Poetry Therapy 22 (3),
121-131
cont…

P a g e | 54
Resources
The Courtyard Centre for the Arts (2015) The best words, in the best order: A toolkit for
making poems in dementia care settings. www.courtyard.org.uk/aop
Links to reports / articles
Arts improve quality of life for older people|My Ageing Parent
http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/your-stories/depression-and-the-power-of-
words/#.VR5CTTG9Kc1
Our Personal Stories Matter for Our Mental Health | Character and Context
http://www.artshealthandwellbeing.org.uk/recent-developments/national-alliance-arts-health-and-
wellbeing
http://www.alzheimersreadingroom.com/2014/07/Alzheimers-dementia-Poem-activity-
engagement.html?m=1
http://www.arts4dementia.org.uk/reawakening-the-mind-report
Organisations
Institute of Poetic Medicine | The Institute of Poetic Medicine offers tools and support to
people to heal body, mind and spirit through the creative and therapeutic process of
hearing, speaking and writing poetry.
www.poeticmedicine.com
Lapidus | The Writing for Wellbeing Organisation - Lapidus provides networks and
information for people interested in writing and creativity for personal development and in
working with others
www.lapidus.org.uk

P a g e | 55
For further information about the project please contact Diane Hinchliffe:
E: dianehinchliffe@blueyonder.co.uk
M: 07711 682048
W: creative-pd.com

Report

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (10)

Similar to Report

Similar to Report (20)

More from Diane Hinchliffe

More from Diane Hinchliffe (6)

Report