Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Artist Uniforms

Today we went to Erddig Ward to work with patients,  we spoke to someone who had been helpful the previous week after she finished on the phone and she took us to see a patient but he was adamant that he didn't want to work with us.
A ward sister told us there was no one there with dementia today and perhaps we could try Mason Ward. (We are there to work with all patients)
So we left - it was very busy and we felt that we were in the way.
It brought up a few issues for us about how we are perceived and has prompted us to think about how we could potentially change that.

Firstly - we were introduced as “ladies here to do some arts and crafts”

To us Arts and Crafts conjures up images of ready made craft packs etc
we don't mean any disrespect to the nurse who went out of her way to at least introduce us to a patient but it has made us consider what we need to do to explain more clearly what we are actually there to do.

“We are being limited by the language of preconceived ideas about creative practice by well meaning staff, this dialogue is seeming to put too much pressure on patients to be creative individuals or at least to be confident in their output - most people aren't .” 
Penny

If someone asked me if I wanted to do Arts and Crafts I would say no too and I am an artist - the word Artist also frightens people.

We need to get staff to introduce us differently  - perhaps just saying that we have brought some interesting things to look at or just to have a chat?

We also wondered if the fact that we don't have a uniform meant that on first impressions patients might feel a little intimidated - we could be specialists  - doctors - or visitors.

Other staff may view us differently if we had some kind of uniform which would make us seem to have a relevant and valuable Wellbeing Role.
This is something that I suggested following my residency in Morris Ward and The Arts in Health and WellBeing team also thought it was a good idea so we have T Shirts arriving imminently.

Penny and I decided that we need a full uniform so we have agreed to wear the same plus name badges for the remainder of the residency.


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