Photographs of 'Quicksilver' in action courtesy of Arts for the Aging.

Monday 7th June, Washington DC / Metropolitan area / Arts For The Aging

Weather - hot

I travelled to Bethesda to meet with Arts for the Aging. I met with Programme Director Lama Dajani and Executive Director Janine Tursini. Lama had very kindly arranged for me to see local projects in Alexandria (Virginia) and Germantown (Maryland) including a session by ‘Quicksilver’ at a Seniors Centre in Alexandria who deliver their hour long movement and stimulation sessions with a live violinist. Many of the participants appeared to have mild or moderate cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s / Dementia or other conditions. All participants seemed to be very engaged with the sessions and ‘Quicksilver’ were themselves supported by Centre staff in engaging participants directly and ensuring that they participated as much as they wished.

From Lama, I learned some more about the AFTA philosophy which is encompassed in their template teaching model documents which all artists must adhere to. Artists also undergo rigorous training to ensure that delivery and session content is appropriate. Having learned a little of the AFTA process, I feel that they may be able to licence this information in order to generate income – for that reason I have not quoted any of their resources directly.

In the afternoon I met with Janine Tursini, Executive Director and we had a wide- ranging conversation about the history and current programmes of AFTA and future developments. I will refer more to this conversation during my report to WCMT. During our conversation, we discussed the fact that there may be analogies between the work of arts and older people organisations and organisations which in the UK we would refer to as providing ‘preventive’ services. There are specific analogous difficulties faced by both types of organisation when trying to monitor and evaluate their work in terms of the impact on health and social care outcomes. These difficulties are neatly encapsulated within the Age Concern England report ‘The Evidence Base For Preventive Services’ (see link). I provided Janine with a copy of this report. The quote below is from page 4:

The dominant but narrow medical perspective on measuring outcomes should be

challenged. The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) has developed the

notion of ‘knowledge-based practice’ which recognises the contribution of

quantitative research but gives equal value to other forms of knowledge: “the lived

experience of service users/carers and the practice wisdom of practitioners can

be just as valid a way of understanding the world”.

The report is available at:

http://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/FF8B1C2D-647C-4028-808A-414FE5085C90/43934/PreventativeServices1.pdf

I plan to explore these analogies and potential solutions upon my return to UK.