Tangible Memories: Parlours of Wonder
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bristol
Department Name: Education
Abstract
Parlours of Wonder: imagining and designing multigenerational spaces of discovery, connection, meaning making and mystery
This project builds on the success of the Tangible Memories research project, enabling our partners Alive! (a charity dedicated to improving the quality of life for older people in care by enabling their participation in meaningful activity) to continue to work with us to further embed the project outcomes in their practice and in care settings more widely. Community engagement is increasingly recognized by the care sector and commissioners as vital in tackling issues of social isolation in our older populations living in care settings. Together with Alive! we want to co-design engaging community spaces (parlours) where older people can interact with evocative objects and our app to record and share their memories and life histories. This will involve imagining and creating a new space of discovery, connection, meaning making and mystery, rather like the 'cabinets of curiosity' or 'wonder rooms' of old. Unlike cabinets of curiosity, our 'Parlours of Wonder' will not be designed and curated by us as arts and humanities researchers, artists/designers and computer scientists. Our vision is that these spaces will be co-curated by and for residents, care staff, families and community members. Care managers believe there is huge potential to use these Parlours of Wonder for community engagement where local school children, community groups and isolated older people will be encouraged to enjoy a cup of tea and a chat or a more formal encounter, sparking questions, connections, new interests or opportunities for contemplation.
This project has been jointly conceived and developed with Alive!, with artists and with an extra care facility in which we have worked on the Tangible Memories Project. Funding from that research enabled us to co-design and to test our prototypes in the settings. We believe the prototypes, in particular our app, have huge potential to enhance opportunities for older people living in care homes to connect with those in their local community and therefore feel less socially isolated. We know that this will require a change of culture in many care settings and thus working closely with care staff to co-design new spaces of encounter in these settings is vital. This project builds on and further extend our excellent working relationships with Alive!, Blaise Weston Court (an extra care facility) and Hanover Housing, but will extend our activities to reach new groups including BrunelCare, the Britannia Centre (a day care facility) and Deerhurst (a large care home specializing in dementia work). It will also enable us to work closely with policy makers and other influencers to expand the local and national project reach.
This project builds on the success of the Tangible Memories research project, enabling our partners Alive! (a charity dedicated to improving the quality of life for older people in care by enabling their participation in meaningful activity) to continue to work with us to further embed the project outcomes in their practice and in care settings more widely. Community engagement is increasingly recognized by the care sector and commissioners as vital in tackling issues of social isolation in our older populations living in care settings. Together with Alive! we want to co-design engaging community spaces (parlours) where older people can interact with evocative objects and our app to record and share their memories and life histories. This will involve imagining and creating a new space of discovery, connection, meaning making and mystery, rather like the 'cabinets of curiosity' or 'wonder rooms' of old. Unlike cabinets of curiosity, our 'Parlours of Wonder' will not be designed and curated by us as arts and humanities researchers, artists/designers and computer scientists. Our vision is that these spaces will be co-curated by and for residents, care staff, families and community members. Care managers believe there is huge potential to use these Parlours of Wonder for community engagement where local school children, community groups and isolated older people will be encouraged to enjoy a cup of tea and a chat or a more formal encounter, sparking questions, connections, new interests or opportunities for contemplation.
This project has been jointly conceived and developed with Alive!, with artists and with an extra care facility in which we have worked on the Tangible Memories Project. Funding from that research enabled us to co-design and to test our prototypes in the settings. We believe the prototypes, in particular our app, have huge potential to enhance opportunities for older people living in care homes to connect with those in their local community and therefore feel less socially isolated. We know that this will require a change of culture in many care settings and thus working closely with care staff to co-design new spaces of encounter in these settings is vital. This project builds on and further extend our excellent working relationships with Alive!, Blaise Weston Court (an extra care facility) and Hanover Housing, but will extend our activities to reach new groups including BrunelCare, the Britannia Centre (a day care facility) and Deerhurst (a large care home specializing in dementia work). It will also enable us to work closely with policy makers and other influencers to expand the local and national project reach.
Planned Impact
The beneficiaries of this project will be far reaching and diverse:
Care settings, staff and managers will be provided with a 'blueprint' for the design of Parlours in their settings. They will also have access to a quality training toolkit. Through the careful recording, reflection and evaluation of all our processes we will produce case study reports of each of the sites as a publication viewable online. These case studies will be hosted both on our own TMP website but also on the Alive! website to ensure the widest possible audience. Take up of the ideas will enhance their provision and be looked on favourably by the CQC who inspect care settings nationally.
Care staff will have an opportunity to work with design partners and researchers to engage creatively in co-designing spaces in their own settings but also in thinking seriously about the future of care settings and their links to communities. They will benefit from further training to develop their expertise in designing and delivering multigenerational activities and in using objects and the app to enhance these activities.
Care home residents will benefit from engaging creatively with us in co-designing spaces, participating in the multigenerational activities we design, learning more about the use of digital technologies and objects and being encouraged to share their stories with others, particularly those of different generations. We know from the TMP that this often leads to increased confidence, lessens the experience of social isolation and improves quality of life.
Family members will benefit from being provided with more creative ways to engage with the care settings and their relatives and as we have found on the TMP this can enable them to feel more connected to other the activities going on in the settings and more likely to visit thus potentially decreasing the social isolation of older people. The app draws in grandchildren and great grandchildren who might not currently visit often.
Young people/schools/community members will benefit from engaging with these creative spaces and from the multigenerational contact that flows through these spaces. The resources provided in the Parlours will enable young people and community members to connect physically with objects from the past and to hear the personal stories associated with the objects that will bring community histories Alive! in new ways. In addition, the contact with older people will provide an important learning opportunity in relation to challenging their preconceptions of older people, perpetuated in the media and elsewhere.
Bristol Ageing Better, Age UK and policy makers working in this space will gain important data on the process of co-designing care homes for community engagement through the case studies we will produce. We will use these case studies to produce a Policy briefing outlining some of the key issues we experienced in the process of co-designing the spaces and activities which will be distributed through our strong networks. In addition, to ensure the project is well communicated to this audience we will present our case studies and training materials at the local 'Celebrating Age Festival' where we have already publicised the TMP, and at national practitioner events such as the Dementia Congress.
Museums and galleries have begun to develop connections with older people living in care through several projects (eg Alive!'s innovative work with the Wallace Collection and the Russell Coates Art Gallery and Museum). However there is huge potential in our work using objects to tell stories that would be of interest to curators and other museum staff. Our case studies will provide useful information that could potentially enhance their provision. This will be enhanced through our co-curated exhibition of creative work.
This project will enhance Alive!'s (our partner) offer to care homes thus improving their capacity to develop and grow as a charitable organisation.
Care settings, staff and managers will be provided with a 'blueprint' for the design of Parlours in their settings. They will also have access to a quality training toolkit. Through the careful recording, reflection and evaluation of all our processes we will produce case study reports of each of the sites as a publication viewable online. These case studies will be hosted both on our own TMP website but also on the Alive! website to ensure the widest possible audience. Take up of the ideas will enhance their provision and be looked on favourably by the CQC who inspect care settings nationally.
Care staff will have an opportunity to work with design partners and researchers to engage creatively in co-designing spaces in their own settings but also in thinking seriously about the future of care settings and their links to communities. They will benefit from further training to develop their expertise in designing and delivering multigenerational activities and in using objects and the app to enhance these activities.
Care home residents will benefit from engaging creatively with us in co-designing spaces, participating in the multigenerational activities we design, learning more about the use of digital technologies and objects and being encouraged to share their stories with others, particularly those of different generations. We know from the TMP that this often leads to increased confidence, lessens the experience of social isolation and improves quality of life.
Family members will benefit from being provided with more creative ways to engage with the care settings and their relatives and as we have found on the TMP this can enable them to feel more connected to other the activities going on in the settings and more likely to visit thus potentially decreasing the social isolation of older people. The app draws in grandchildren and great grandchildren who might not currently visit often.
Young people/schools/community members will benefit from engaging with these creative spaces and from the multigenerational contact that flows through these spaces. The resources provided in the Parlours will enable young people and community members to connect physically with objects from the past and to hear the personal stories associated with the objects that will bring community histories Alive! in new ways. In addition, the contact with older people will provide an important learning opportunity in relation to challenging their preconceptions of older people, perpetuated in the media and elsewhere.
Bristol Ageing Better, Age UK and policy makers working in this space will gain important data on the process of co-designing care homes for community engagement through the case studies we will produce. We will use these case studies to produce a Policy briefing outlining some of the key issues we experienced in the process of co-designing the spaces and activities which will be distributed through our strong networks. In addition, to ensure the project is well communicated to this audience we will present our case studies and training materials at the local 'Celebrating Age Festival' where we have already publicised the TMP, and at national practitioner events such as the Dementia Congress.
Museums and galleries have begun to develop connections with older people living in care through several projects (eg Alive!'s innovative work with the Wallace Collection and the Russell Coates Art Gallery and Museum). However there is huge potential in our work using objects to tell stories that would be of interest to curators and other museum staff. Our case studies will provide useful information that could potentially enhance their provision. This will be enhanced through our co-curated exhibition of creative work.
This project will enhance Alive!'s (our partner) offer to care homes thus improving their capacity to develop and grow as a charitable organisation.
Organisations
- University of Bristol (Lead Research Organisation)
- Alive Activities (Collaboration)
- Bristol City Council (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- University of Western Australia (Collaboration)
- Stand + Stare (Collaboration)
- Utrecht University (Collaboration)
- Alive! Activities (Project Partner)
- Bristol Ageing Better (Project Partner)
- Hanover (Project Partner)
- Blaise Weston Court (Project Partner)
- Brunelcare (Project Partner)
Publications
Bates V
(2020)
Beyond landscape's visible realm: Recorded sound, nature, and wellbeing.
in Health & place
Cozza, M.
(2021)
Ageing as a Boundary Object. Thinking Differently of Ageing and Care
in Technoscienza
| Title | Exhibition of Parlours of Wonder |
| Description | At the end of the funding period we co-curated an exhibition showcasing the PArlours of wonder project, including the training toolkit, the updated app, the Blueprint and the outcomes of our project process. The exhibition was shown both at Bristol City Hall for the period of a week and also at the Victoria and ALbert Museum as part of the Digital Design Weekend. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Impact | several new connections made with additional care settings with whom we are now working to support them to design their own Parlour of wonder |
| Title | Three new Parlours of Wonder |
| Description | As part of the project we co-designed 3 Parlours of Wonder with care settings for older people. These are rooms within the setting where people can come together to chat, work alongside material objects and where intergenerational activities with school children were ran. We designed a new 'cabinet of stories' to go into these rooms, as well as commissioning a map to be designed to reflect the south west region. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Impact | In each of the care settings several events were held to open the Parlour of Wonder. Intergenerational activities were designed and took place in the rooms which helped to build lasting relationships between the schools and the care settings in which we were working. Over 50 children and their teachers and over 200 older people have engaged with these rooms and benefitted from them directly in terms of their quality of life. The Parlour of WOnder in one setting was seen as a significant reason that the care there was deemed to be 'Outstanding' in a recent Care quality commission inspection. |
| URL | http://tangible-memories.com/ |
| Description | This project enhanced opportunities for older people living in care homes to enjoy multigenerational relationships - challenging assumptions about and representations of older people and leading to them feeling less socially isolated. This project enhanced the value of the research conducted under Tangible Memories Project by building on our strong relationships and utilising our StoryCreator app and our research around objects and storytelling to co-design new spaces of discovery, connection and meaning making in care home settings. Given the existing involvement and activities of Alive! this project provided us with an excellent opportunity for knowledge exchange. Working closely with Alive! and care staff we created re-usable information and training resources that Alive! Now host on their website, and which have become an integral part of their training offer. At a time when the social isolation of older people and the need to re-imagine the care of older people has been identified as a key societal challenge, this research could not be more timely. The beneficiaries of this project have been far reaching and diverse: Care settings, staff and managers have been provided with a 'DIY blueprint' for the design of Parlours in their settings. They also have access to a quality training toolkit which they could deliver themselves or access through Alive!'s training offer. This will enhance their provision and be looked on favourably by the CQC who inspect care settings nationally. In fact one of the settings we worked in has recently been awarded an outstanding inspection (only 2.5% of care settings nationally achieve this) - they attribute this in part to the work they are able to do in the Parlour of Wonder. Our partners have also asked us to get involved in other sites they manage and have written about the project in their local and regional newsletters. Care staff have had an opportunity to work with design partners and researchers to engage creatively in co-designing spaces in their own settings but also have begun to think seriously about the future of care settings and their links to communities. Two of the three care settings have now embedded intergenerational activity, working in partnership with their local primary school, into their ongoing activity schedule. Staff have benefitted from further training to develop their expertise in designing and delivering multigenerational activities and in using objects and our app to enhance these activities. Care home residents have benefitted from engaging creatively with us in co-designing spaces, participating in the multigenerational activities we designed, learning more about the use of digital technologies and objects and being encouraged to share their stories with others, particularly those of different generations. We know through self report that this has led to increased confidence, lessened the experience of social isolation and improved many of their quality of life.. Family members have benefitted from being provided with more creative ways to engage with the care settings and their relatives. This has enabled them to feel more connected to other the activities going on in the settings and more likely to visit thus decreasing the social isolation felt by older people. The app draws in grandchildren and great grandchildren who might not currently visit often and the rooms provide a space for family parties and other social events that are very popular with families. Young people/schools/community members have benefitted from engaging with these creative spaces and from the multigenerational contact that flows through these spaces. The resources provided in the Parlours enabled young people and community members to connect physically with objects from the past and to hear the personal stories associated with the objects that will bring community histories alive in new ways. In addition, the contact with older people provided an important learning opportunity in relation to challenging their preconceptions of older people, perpetuated in the media and elsewhere. This was evidenced through reflective learning diaries produced by the children and their teachers and fieldnotes created during the Parlours of Wonder activities. The longer-term sustainability of the proposed activities will be ensured through our strong relationship with Alive! who are already involved in multigenerational activities with care homes and have established relationships with a wide network of homes and are experienced in designing and delivering training programmes. This project has enhanced Alive!'s offer to care homes thus improving their capacity to develop and grow as a charitable organization committed to improving the quality of life of older people living in care. The co-produced training toolkit and the Blueprint are hosted on Alive!'s website. During COVID 19 Alive have continued to develop intergenerational activities and have diversified this activity, as well as moving it online. This has provided vital support for older people living in care homes who have been unable to have visitors and for others who live in their own homes. See https://aliveactivities.org/community-engagement/ There are two digital technical outputs of this project: 1. An advanced and improved robust StoryCreator iPad app. The app is available free of charge through the app store. A platform specific native code approach has been designed in order for us to support all generation iPads ease of access to camera and audio recording and import functionality. We have had a good amount of downloads of the app internationally including the following: UK - 245, USA - 167, Australia - 119, Canada - 46, Spain - 10 2. We have developed the public facing Tangible Memories Website (developed in WordPress) to include the training toolkit, tips and help on use of the StoryCreator app, and the DIY blueprint for the Parlours of Wonder. |
| Exploitation Route | See above |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Healthcare,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Description | As this was an impact and engagement award all of our work resulted in impact. Briefly we have achieved our initial aims in that we have (a) co-designed engaging community focused spaces in 3 different settings (one existing and 2 new settings - a large care home and a day care centre) where older people and others can interact with evocative objects, sparking questions and new interests and use our StoryCreator app together to record and share their ideas, memories and stories. (b) we have co-designed, with interactive designers Stand + Stare, a DIY blueprint for any care settings to design their own 'Parlours of Wonder' and to use our StoryCreator app effectively within them. This included ideas for engaging older people in co-designing the rooms and interactive case studies with evaluations of the approaches taken across the 3 sites. (c) we have worked alongside Alive! and care home staff to develop multigenerational community engagement activities in the Parlour settings. This involved establishing sustainable partnerships between local schools and care settings in which we worked. two out of 3 of these partnerships are ongoing and have resulted in intergenerational activity becoming embedded within the settings, happening on a regular basis. (d) we have co-designed, with Alive!, a training toolkit for care staff to introduce a suite of approaches to engage residents, staff and those in the local community within the Parlours. This is now hosted on the Alive website and has had a good number of downloads (number to follow) (e) we have further tested and developed the iPad StoryCreator app to ensure it is more usable in care settings (f) we co-curated an exhibition to officially launch the Parlour idea and the app with Alive! and care settings. This exhibition toured to City Hall in Bristol and to the V & A at Digital Design weekend (g) we have engaged with policy makers in Bristol through convening a 'Bristol: A city for all ages' group and engaged with national influencers such as the Centre for Ageing Better throughout the project in working together to identify platforms for sharing the value of the work with new local and national care networks. Since the end of the grant we have continued to work to develop the training and the storytelling app. The models of working and digital tools developed through the research [1, 2, in press, plus the Training toolkit and the Blueprint] have informed the training being delivered to care home staff across the South West region, leading to improved practice in supporting older people's quality of life in care homes, reaching over 2500 care home professionals to date. In 2016-2018 the charity 'Alive!' trained 35 staff from six care homes on how to facilitate life-story work with older people, using the Tangible Memories app (Toolkit and Blueprint). In 2017, they also delivered three Alive Active Care Forums drawing on the Parlours of Wonder research (Toolkit), reaching a further 39 care home staff. In-depth staff training has been delivered using our model to a further 50 care staff in the South West of England during 2017 and a further 2500 care staff have been trained by Alive using our methods through their regular training sessions and their online Active Care Forum. Two care homes that participated in the original research are independently continuing (as at October 2018) to put the research into practice in their settings. One is continuing their intergenerational links with the local school, while another successfully secured further funding to expand their intergenerational work, and are continuing to run Parlours of Wonder sessions and use the space for social and family activity [a]. Hanover Housing, a national provider of care homes, presented the research via a bespoke video to all 900 of its staff in 2016? and is training Estate Managers to develop their own 'Parlours of Wonder' and make use of the StoryCreator app [c]. The methods and practices developed during the research are being independently applied in new settings. In 2017, Hanover Housing extended the Parlours of Wonder project to some of their estates in Gloucestershire. Mears Care, who work in partnership with Hanover Housing, have integrated the approach into their ways of working by inviting the older people being cared for in the community into the Parlour of Wonder for sessions to improve their quality of life. Scarborough Museums are using the StoryCreator app to run a similar intergenerational project in the North East. To support wider take-up of the research insights by those working to support older people, the research team have developed digital resource including a 'Toolkit' and a 'Blueprint' from the Parlours of Wonder research and a 'StoryCreator' app from the Tangible Memories research. Between November 2017 and October 2018, there have been 52 downloads of the Toolkit and 45 downloads of the Blueprint, by professionals including social workers, nurses, care managers and occupational therapists. The Tangible Memories StoryCreator app has been downloaded 775 times between April 2015 and October 2018, over 500 of which have been international and the project website has received over 42,000 views in the same period. In Perth Australia at an industry focussed event for care providers and policy makers (2017-2018) industry partners including residential care providers, local councils, aged care at home service providers and NGOs working with older people showed a particular interest in the process adopted (in press), especially the idea of collaboration that incorporates older people and that gives them a sense of ownership of what is produced. The research team expect to see further impacts on the practice of these organisations between 2018 and 2020. In November & December 2018, 20 staff and volunteers from Bristol Ageing Better (BAB) funded projects coming together to learn how to use our creative approaches to better reach and engage people aged 85 and older. Research tells us that those aged 85+ are at particular risk of loneliness and isolation, and as such this age group is a particular focus within the BAB programme. The two workshops were run by Dr Helen Manchester (University of Bristol) and Stand + Stare. BAB produced a 'Learning Digest' as a result of the event that documents and shares the key learning from these workshops, with a particular focus on the use of storytelling and co-design. There has been significant impact from the project on organisations including those supporting older people (Alive!), an interactive design agency (Stand + Stare) and a local community development charity (BS3 Community). Alive! is the leading national charity working to enrich the lives of older people in care and train their carers. Their participation in the research projects (Tangible Memories and Parlours of Wonder) has led to improvements in the training they are able to offer and raising their profile nationally. From 2016, their training offering has been enhanced by developing a new model of training alongside mentoring, informed by the Tangible Memories research, and making their sessions more adaptable and inclusive for people with varying physical and cognitive needs. The Parlours of Wonder project featured on BBC Points West in Dec 2017 and on the main national BBC website. This was the first time Alive! have been featured on national TV so it had a significant impact for raising the profile of the charity's work to new public audiences. Increasing numbers of organisations are accessing their training as of 2016 as a result of this raised profile [a]. Stand + Stare are a small interactive/digital design company who worked with the research team to develop digital resources from the research, including the StoryCreator app, the Parlours of Wonder Toolkit and Blueprint. They have adopted the methodologies developed through the research to successfully bid for new commissions across the country, including art commissions with Fermyn Woods and a project with the library service in Devon, which has increased the revenue of their business through securing a range of high profile commissions working with objects and older people Alive activities have been running the Making Pals project which takes the idea of the links between care homes and communities from the Parlours of WOnder project and develops it/ Making Pals is working with care homes across the Bristol, BANES, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset areas, helping them to build long-lasting and meaningful relationships with their local communities. By encouraging the public to engage with care homes and by empowering care home residents, we hope to change the public's perceptions of care homes so that they are truly seen as part of the local community. |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Healthcare,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic,Policy & public services |
| Description | Inspiring Science |
| Amount | £2,500,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Wellcome Trust |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2017 |
| End | 11/2019 |
| Description | Next generation of immersive experiences |
| Amount | £58,898 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2018 |
| End | 10/2018 |
| Description | Prehension Blooms: Expanding access to creative spaces for isolated people using soft robotics |
| Amount | £6,729 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Bristol |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2021 |
| End | 12/2021 |
| Description | Social Innovation and Elder Care |
| Amount | £20,500 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Worldwide Universities Network |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2017 |
| End | 12/2018 |
| Description | Alive! activities |
| Organisation | Alive Activities |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We are working with Alive! activities as part of the research process and they are being funded to work with us on the project. However the partnership has gone much further than this and has involved them working with us on dissemination, running events and putting us in touch with networks and others who might help us to develop our work further. It is a genuine partnership in which we have likewise provided them with links to networks that they had not been aware of before, connected them with academic work in the area and acted as a critical friend to them in thinking about their own work. We are continuing to work with Alive as they are using our app in their training for care staff and in their active care forum. They are also using the app in two new locations and evaluating this for us. Alive were also our partners on the follow on funded project 'Tangible Memories: Parlours of Wonder'. On this project they worked with us to write a training toolkit for our Parlours of Wonder project, to work alongside us to coach care staff in using the model designed. We worked with them to design an approach to training care staff that would work and they then embedded this into their ongoing practice as an organisation delivering training across the South and South West. In addition they took on our model of intergenerational work and embedded this into their programming too. Our relationship with Alive in ongoing and they are partners on the new UKRI grant 'Connecting through culture as we age: digital innovation for healthy ageing.' |
| Collaborator Contribution | We are working with Alive! activities as part of the research process and they are being funded to work with us on the project. However the partnership has gone much further than this and has involved them working with us on dissemination, running events and putting us in touch with networks and others who might help us to develop our work further. We continue to work with them as outlined above. We have also collaborated on an AHRC Follow on funding bid which we submitted before christmas but have not heard. We received funding for this award and have continued to work with them on the Tangible Memories: parlours of wonder follow on funding award. They helped us to choose 3 settings to work with in 3 different counties and then supported us to deliver intergenerational activity sessions in these settings. They also worked in partnership with us to write the training toolkit, bringing their experience of working across a range of care settings. As part of the new grant they will be bringing their expertise in digital inequality and enabling access to cultural and arts activities for older people living in their own homes during the pandemic and beyond. |
| Impact | ESRC Thinking Futures Festival event: Care homes for the future. Nov 4th 2014 Workshops in care homes across Bristol. Active care forum events for 50-100 people. Working in a day care centre and another care home reaching over 100 more residents with the app and object orientated activities reminscence workshops. Also we produced a training toolkit together on the Tangible Memories: Parlours of wonder project and a Blueprint for how to produce your own Parlour of WOnder see https://aliveactivities.org/resources/create-your-parlour-of-wonder/ Alive have been able to develop their model of intergenerational work through their work with the Parlours of Wonder project - this has become very successful for them financially. |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Bristol City Council |
| Organisation | Bristol City Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We have had regular meetings with civil servants working on ideas around 'Future Cities' , adult social care and civil servants working on ideas around 'age friendly' and 'resilient' cities.This had led to increased understanding and to our research having an impact on policy. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Civil servants have helped us to find partners and collaborators for further funding bids, helped us to understand how policy works and who to speak to around issues arising from our research. They have invited me to speak at events such as the councillors scrutiny event for ' the case for culture' in the city. |
| Impact | Involvement and support for our bid for follow on funding to AHRC. On going work with the HEalth and Wellbeing board around teh Bristol 'One City Plan' and the health and social care activities of the plan |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Socio-gerontechnology network |
| Organisation | Utrecht University |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I am a founding member and on the executive committee of a newly established international network exploring Ageing and Technology - called the socio-gerontechnology network. The network is international and includes members from across the globe and includes prominent figures in the field of ageing and technology from across Europe and North America. The network is beginning to have an influence on the field of technology design for older people through challenging accepted discourses around what technology designs might be appropriate. We published an edited book which sets the scene for ageing and technology research in the next decade. The network is also working on briefing papers and I am events co-ordiantor- having un a series of online events for the network in 2021-2022 entitled 'International conversations in ageing and technology'. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Collaborative research awards Seminars for practitioners and academics - A co-edited book and several journal special issues. Tracks and symposia at academic conferences |
| Impact | Seminar series - INternational Conversations in Ageing and technology Co-edited book This is multidisciplinary collaboration between design researchers, HCI researchers, social scientists, anthropologists and arts and humanities scholars |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Stand + Stare |
| Organisation | Stand + Stare |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Working alongside Stand + Stare who are interactive designers to develop their creative ideas as they work with co-design methods. Providing guidance on co-design and ethical practice in relation to life story research. In the Tangible Memories: Parlours of Wonder project Stand + Stare worked with us to: co-design an engaging community focused space in 3 different settings where older people and others can interact with evocative objects, sparking questions and new interests and use our StoryCreator app together to record and share their ideas, memories and stories. They also worked with us to co-design a DIY blueprint for any care settings to design their own 'Parlours of Wonder' and to use the StoryCreator app within them. [To include ideas for engaging older people in co-designing the rooms and interactive case studies with evaluations of the approaches taken across the 3 sites.] In addition as part of this project they further tested and developed the iPad StoryCreator app and create a brand new Android version, enabling us to reach new audiences. Both versions of the app will then be made freely available on the relevant app stores. They also took a lead in co-curating two exhibitions in London (at the Digital Design weekend at the V and A) and in Bristol at City Hall to officially launch the Parlour idea and the app with Alive! and care settings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Working alongside older residents in care home to co-design a process of life history work that enables them to create their own interactive book. Stand + stare worked alongside ourselves on the Parlours of wonder project to: to: co-design an engaging community focused space in 3 different settings where older people and others can interact with evocative objects, sparking questions and new interests and use our StoryCreator app together to record and share their ideas, memories and stories. They also worked with us to co-design a DIY blueprint for any care settings to design their own 'Parlours of Wonder' and to use the StoryCreator app within them. [To include ideas for engaging older people in co-designing the rooms and interactive case studies with evaluations of the approaches taken across the 3 sites.] In addition as part of this project they further tested and developed the iPad StoryCreator app and create a brand new Android version, enabling us to reach new audiences. Both versions of the app will then be made freely available on the relevant app stores. STAND + STARE also worked with us on the Productive MArgins project to co-design a space for our community actors to perform their monologues and play about loneliness, based on their data collection. |
| Impact | Multidisciplinary involves working between educational researchers, folklorists, historians and computer scientists with this artist group. Outcomes include interactive books and audio of life history interviews.The StoryCreator app is now linked to a pay on demand service which is intended as a source of revenue for Stand + Stare as they take the app on as part of their business. The ALONELY shed has been used for a wide range of performances in a variety of locations. |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | University of Western Australia |
| Organisation | University of Western Australia |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Invited to present a keynote presentation at an invited symposium on Ageing and New media. Also presented at an Industry Masterclass for care homes and care companies in Australia. Presented Tangible Memories methods and innovative products to international audience. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Convening the invited symposium |
| Impact | Currently writing a new World Universities Network project |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Title | StoryCreator app |
| Description | The Tangible Memories app allows you to tell stories that are meaningful to you and your loved ones, and listen back to them in easy and accessible ways. It has been designed particularly with older people and their carers and families in mind, but can be used by anyone. You can create pages that combine a photo, text and an audio recording. These can be viewed within the app or printed out. When printed, the audio recording is represented by a beautiful shell illustration. The scan function within the app recognizes the shell on each printed page and, as if by magic, plays back your audio. As well as printing out PDF pages, the shells can be printed onto other things such as cushions or lap blankets. Music is well known to be therapeutic for dementia sufferers and can be a powerful way to access memories. We have also found that people with dementia often enjoy the feel of tactile fabrics. You can use the app to link a piece of music to a shell. When that shell is printed out (this could be onto a range of materials) you can use the scan function to play back that piece of music. This enables people to create blankets and objects to touch and feel that contain play lists that are meaningful to them. - A simple design that allows you to make an audio recording, add a photo and a short quote - A function that allows you to swipe through pages you have created as an e-book within the app and play back your audio on each page - An export option, which allows you to email a PDF of each page to share with others or print out - A 'scan' function that, using image recognition, allows you to play back audio recordings from your printed pages by framing the shell illustrations within the viewfinder - Options to record audio within the app or use tracks from your iTunes library - Options to take photos through the app or add them from your photo library - As well as printing out PDF pages, the shells can be printed onto other things such as cushions or lap blankets. - iTunes file sharing, enabling the user to copy their created book from the iPad to their computer as a backup option. Copied books can also be imported onto another iPad running the Tangible Memories app. - Handy hints based on our research and experience of working with older people in care homes |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Impact | The app is already being used in a variety of care homes across Bristol. Our partners Alive! are working with us to train staff to use the app across the South west and South east. Since June 2015 we have seen 1352 downloads of the app from across the globe. |
| URL | https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/tangible-memories-story-creator/id1006573343 |
| Description | Bristol Ageing Better Creative Approaches to Inclusion: |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In November & December 2018, staff and volunteers from BAB-funded projects came together to learn how to use creative approaches to better reach and engage people aged 85 and older. Research tells us that those aged 85+ are at particular risk of loneliness and isolation, and as such this age group is a particular focus within the BAB programme. The two workshops were run by Dr Helen Manchester (University of Bristol) and Stand + Stare from the Tangible Memories Project. The key learning from these workshops had a particular focus on the use of storytelling and co-design. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://bristolageingbetter.org.uk/userfiles/files/Inclusive%20Communities%20-%20Reaching%20and%20eng... |
| Description | Care staff training workshops |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | up t0 50 care staff working with older people benefitted from training delivered on using the Parlour of Wonder |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Cities for All Ages group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Building on the intergenerational work we developed during the Parlours of Wonder project I worked with a group of key influencers in the city to set up a group called "Bristol: A City for All Ages". This group worked on the development of a week long series of events around Bristol concentrating on intergenerational work. One of these events was a research focussed event in which I convened a group of practitioners and researchers to talk about their work to an audience of influential civil society organisations, academics and policy makers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Digital Design Weekend |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Over 10,000 people visit the V and A for their annual Digital Design weekend event. we showed some of our digital products related to the Parlours of Wonder project at this event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Industry Masterclass |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | IN a recent visit to the University of Western Australia I was asked to present to a group of care home managers and care companies on the work of the Tangible Memories: Community in Care and the Tangible Memories: Parlours of Wonder projects. As a result I am now working with an academic and these care provider partners to write a further international funding bid. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Intergenerational Day event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Intergenerational workshop day exploring key trends in relation to cross generational design and research - sparked ongoing conversations around intergenerational practice and research and ways forward with this amongst practitioners and academicss. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://ageingandthelifecourse.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2019/07/08/intergenerational-relations-events/ |
| Description | Public facing website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Our public facing website developed during the Tangible Memories project - with more than 50,000 hits and frequent requests for further information. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018 |
| URL | http://www.tangible-memories.com |
| Description | Westminister event: Loneliness across the lifecourse |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | This event, held at Westminster, brought together researchers who have co-produced research with older people in Bristol (University of Bristol) and young people in Manchester (Manchester Metropolitan University) on the issue of loneliness. Researchers and community members presented their creative outputs and encourage discussion on loneliness as an issue that can connect us across generations and that is relevant across the lifecourse. The aim of the event was to consider the potential of an intergenerational approach to the issue of loneliness, particularly to explore how policy makers and other influencers might encourage creative, holistic, community responses to the issue. Attendees included Rachel Reeves, former co-Chair of the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness and now chair of All Party Parliamentary Group on loneliness. Rachel spoke about the Commission's work and that of the APPG, both of which are trying to understand the effects of changes in people's lives, and also how loneliness can affect people at any time of life. She raised the issue of loneliness and disability, highlighting that 1 in 4 disabled people experience loneliness every day; and also the fact that as much as half of the British population say they have 'no experience' of disability. The Coop Foundation and the British Red Cross have also done some work on how loneliness affects men, and identified that the most lonely age for men is in their late thirties. She agreed that social media is both part of answer and part of the problem, in its potential to worsen loneliness and also its power to help people stay connected. Rachel felt that the appointment earlier this year of a Minister for Loneliness was a step in the right direction; she is working closely with the APPG on loneliness, and last month the Government announced a £20m funding package for charities and community groups to help tackle the issue. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |