Arts in Palliative Care ECHO Network

Dates and details

Session #1: 18th May 2021, 3pm

Re-inventing arts practices in palliative care: Learning from working (or not) with Covid by the St Columba’s Arts Team

• Service development and innovation in the midst of uncertainty, Dr Giorgos Tsiris
• On the wall or on the web: Arts processes, products and environments, Hans K Clausen
• Online choir work: To sing or not to sing, Anna Ludwig

Our thanks to everyone who participated.

Session #2: 24^th August 2021, 3pm

Holding on, Letting go: Providing an insight into how staff working in palliative care navigated through the personal and professional challenges of lockdown

Community Artists Marion Tasker and Stephanie Brittain from Mountbatten Hospice, Isle of White, were keen to use the arts as a way of keeping connected and supporting hospice staff during the first lockdown. They will share what happened when they asked staff and volunteers what they were holding on to, and what they needed or wanted to let go of, as they faced challenges both personal and professional.

Facilitated Discussion - about this project and sharing of knowledge and experience of Arts in Palliative Care. Thank you for taking part.

Session #3: 23^rd November 2021, 3pm

Tracing Autonomy

Kirsty Stansfield and Jeni Pearson from The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice, Glasgow/UoG shared their ongoing work which came out of reflective conversations with philosopher Prof. Ben Colburn, Senior Lecturer in Moral & Political Philosophy, University of Glasgow around autonomy, creativity and end of life care.

Facilitated Discussion - about this project and sharing of knowledge and experience of Arts in Palliative Care. Our thanks to everyone who participated.

Session #4: 22^nd February 2022, 3pm

'Skill-sharing' within art and music therapy with parents and care staff

This session was led by Katherine Walters (Lead Arts Therapist and Music Therapist) and Sandra Smith (Art Therapist) from East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH). They gave an overview of 'skill-sharing' within art and music therapy with parents and care staff. They focussed on how they adapted this work they started pre-pandemic to virtual ways of working to maximise the benefits of using the arts therapeutically for children in the hospice care. They initiated discussions about how best to use virtual skill-sharing in its broadest sense for families and children who receive hospice care. Our thanks to Katherine for a wonderful session.

Session #5: 17^th May 2022, 3pm

Developing the evidence base for music therapy to support carers pre- and post-bereavement

This session will be led by Dr Lisa Graham-Wisener, Dr Tracey McConnell & Dr Katie Gillespie from Queen’s University Belfast.

They will give an overview of the ‘MusiCARER’ research project, which aims to build capacity for high-quality research on the role of music therapy in supporting informal carers of people at end of life. They will focus on sharing what research evidence exists for the benefits of music therapy as a pre- or post-bereavement intervention, and what the gaps are in the current evidence base. They plan to initiate discussion on how music therapy is currently being used to support carers at end of life, and what is needed to further support this work.

Participation is free but registration and consent for data sharing is required. Please email us to express an interest and receive the Zoom link at: echo@stcolumbashospice.org.uk