1st Edition

Creative Engagement in Palliative Care New Perspectives on User Involvement

    This book offers an extensive range of ideas and practical developing service users' creativity including songmaking, drama, dance, creative writing, music, video and visual arts. It promotes innovation and encourages a fresh and enthusiastic approach to care that will appeal to anyone with a love of creative arts as a means of expression. The wide-ranging approach encompasses many different voices from patients, artists and healthcare professionals. "Creative Engagement in Palliative Care" is highly recommended for all palliative health and social care professionals and volunteers, including occupational therapists, and art and music therapists. It is a wonderful resource for health and social care educators, teachers and trainers and will be a immense source of inspiration for patients and their families.'This book is about user involvement. It is concerned with sharing knowledge and experience about user involvement in palliative care and making it more real for the future. In modern times, the importance of 'end of life care' was highlighted by the pioneers of the voluntary hospice movement. They emphasised the importance of palliative care being based on an holistic approach that took account of all aspects of people's lives and deaths; medical, social, spiritual and material. More recently the work of the independent hospice movement has been complemented by the development and expansion of specialist palliative care in state provision. The aim has been to enable people to be able to 'do it their way' with a real sense of control and to be able to communicate their unique words, voices and experience. This is and will always be a key potential of user involvement.' - Suzy Croft and Peter Beresford, in the Preface.

    Is there anything funny about pain? John's song. Margarita's story. A body so small. My lovely blue lady. The autumn leaves are falling. The guide to living with cancer according to PG Wodehouse. Arts in palliative care: The Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice. John's journey: finding a voice. The hospice story. Connecting I and you. Reaching god behind enemy lines. We laughed. God's glory revealed. Developing support. User Involvement and Creativity. No - you don't know how we feel. The women's group. Working in partnership with the women's group at St John's Hospice. Advancing involvement. My place at the front of the queue. Becoming involved in research. Users as educators: how hospice patients can help in the training of health professionals. The Tuesday group: a project in the art of dying. Opening the curtains. Let's do the iPod shuffle together. The olive tree. Woof! Fred is dead. Escalier. I watched you as you died. Approximately 10 things which are wonderful, in no order. Unwanted guests. Feelings. The traveller. The tear and the telescope. Why me? Barbie princesses hee hee hee. My darkest night. Ah bless. Meriel. Palliative care. God bless you: ray of sunshine in a dark sky. The spider inside. My boat. My sis. What is a hug?

    Biography

    Lucinda Jarrett (Edited by) , Sunderarajan Jayaraman (Author) Artistic Director, Rosetta Life