Using Art and Creativity to Explore Dying, Death and Grief in Residential Care
How can we use art and creativity to explore dying, death, grief, and loss in residential care?
This question was at the heart of Irish Hospice Foundation’s 2024 Seed Grant programme.
Led by IHF’s Arts and Cultural Engagement and Caru teams, six artists received funding to design and facilitate creative projects in nursing homes across Ireland to spark conversations about dying, death, and grief, and to ease the impact of losses associated with residential care.
The projects developed between June and November 2024, with artists using a wide variety of creative practice to encourage and facilitate these conversations. Song, drama, painting, LEGO building, and storytelling are just a few examples of the creative media used. You can read more about these projects below.
Led by artist-facilitator Rebecca Strain, residents and staff created a ceramic memory tree for their garden while exploring experiences of dying, death, grief, and loss. Learn more about this project.
Multi-disciplinary community artist Helen Keenan facilitated drawing and movement classes with residents aimed at engaging the mind, body, and soul to process emotions. Individual sessions were hosted for people living with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s using photographs and music. Learn more about this project.
Dr Lisa Hester collaborated with residents to re-purpose an underused prayer room into a therapeutic multi-purpose area for the whole nursing home community to use. Learn more about this project.
Performance artist Gabrielle Breathnach facilitated drama-based movement classes for residents to prompt conversations about memories, dreams, and aspirations.
Visual artist Rozzi Kennedy and writer Sarah Guppy collaborated with residents to create contents for inclusion in bereavement support packs for loved ones and staff.
Activity coordinator Michelle Clifford established a choir led by residents to nurture cultural change and community building.
Read IHF’s recent blog post to find out more about these projects, and IHF’s Seed Grants Programme.
Read our blog post about the Arts in Residential Care, and how this project started!
Caru Regional Lead, Sharon O’Brien, explains how these projects brought residents together in a safe space to collectively explore death and grief.