Statement and research interests :
Realityarts - Creativity for Change, Seeks to engage, encourage and inspire individuals in the use of art and creativity and bring about change in their health, impacting and connecting communities with intergenerational arts projects.

At Realityarts we are passionate about creativity. Our aim is to look at ways in which we can enhance the creative process in every area of our lives, more specifically our health. We believe that the creative process is at the very heart of our being and can take place any and every where and that it is not only something that ‘people in the arts’ do but can be undertaken within any field of work by all.

Massage therapy is used and has also been shown to improve the health and mental-wellbeing of an individual.

          

My current project looks at the use of Art, Creativity and Massage Therapy with the elderly with dementia. Older adults with dementia experience a better quality of life when they participate in the arts, we have found that participants in the arts groups:

• experienced elevated mood;
• show an increased level of concentration;
• showed an increase in the level of independent functioning, where normally decline would have been expected;
• did better on scales for depression, loneliness, and morale;
• showed improved memory function;

• The arts contribute to communicating, building a sense of identity, and strengthening social networks in communities.
• The arts help create elder-friendly communities in which older adults are able to thrive and function regardless of their ability.

• Compare and learn from practices in art and creativity in USA and Europe used to treat dementia, look at how the learning can be brought back and used in UK health settings
• Look at tools used to monitor the effectiveness and how they compare with UK models
• Evaluate and develop tools to enable carers to carry out their roles using current technology.