What We Do
our services
At ArtCare we believe everyone has creative potential and that creativity can lead to healthier lives and communities. Active engagement with the arts and culture, whether through our own creative practice or through our enjoyment of the creative practice of others, is beneficial for the health and wellbeing of us all.
As the creative health service at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust we aim to inspire creativity and innovation in healthcare by delivering a quality arts programme. We adopt a person-centred approach in all our activities and are a needs-led service. We aim to make a creative hospital environment the norm for patients, staff and visitors.
The ArtCare team has more than 25 years of experience delivering a wide range of projects for the benefit of patients, visitors and staff at Salisbury District Hospital and the wider community, including other health care settings. ArtCare works collaboratively on creative health projects with local schools and colleges and engages in community partnerships with local cultural organisations taking an holistic view of wellbeing. Take a look at some of our individual projects in more detail.
Our core funded work falls under four main categories, which are detailed below together with some of our best practice project examples, highlighting why we work in this way. In all our participatory planning we use the ways to well-being framework. The Creative Health Quality framework underpins our programme and our strategic planning.
People
Promoting self-directed well being, enabling moments of learning, discovery, curiosity and creativity, which are known to have beneficial effects on mental health, advocacy, reducing barriers to access, providing affordable workshops
Breast Unit
co-designed environment meets the needs of users
Stars Appeal Live
regular weekly music and creativity at the bedside with patients referred by staff for 1:1 sessions
Children's Unit
meaningful public participation designing alongside children, families and staff
Staff
Providing opportunities to unwind and develop creative skills, valuing staff by using ROBUST design to improve the environment and reduce stress, inspiring new skills and encouraging team building
Staff Arts Club
subsidised workshops and creative packs supporting staff wellbeing
Clinical Staff Rooms
valuing staff by improving environment with spaces to unwind
Creative Team building
supporting staff to work together fostering connection and creativity
Collaboration and community
Establishing the hospital as an anchor institute, nurturing local partnerships, creating opportunities for local arts professionals and volunteers, sharing skills and resources
Healthcare History project
building innovative connections with our local population
Well-City Salisbury
partnerships with local cultural organisations to increase opportunities for all
British Science Association Community Buddies
connecting community leaders with local researchers to drive innovative community-led science engagement
Nature and sustainability
Connecting through nature, using nature to inspire and aid well being, appreciation of local biodiversity, reuse of materials in creative workshops, sustainability of artworks
Nature walks
educate, enthuse and engage support for preserving the hospital site's biodiversity
Breathing spaces
spending time in green space to benefit mental and physical wellbeing
Our Impact
patient, staff and visitor feedback
Our work has a tremendous impact both on the hospital and on the community.
Our work is open to all and benefits a range of people including:
- Vulnerable older people
- People with long term health conditions
- Children with health conditions
- People with mental health issues
- Disadvantaged families
Each year we support a large number of local people. For 2022/2023 this was 4,141 people face to face and 23,119 people whose environments at the hospital were uplifted. 3608 hours of creative activities improved wellbeing for participants. ArtCare’s team of dedicated volunteers donated 700 hours of their time helping with a range of tasks.
We measure our success of our projects with feedback, evaluation, questionnaires for participants at the start of an activity, during the activity and at the end of the activity, as well as regular surveys to monitor our projects where we respond and adapt to feedback.
Who we are
Meet the team
We are a specialist and well connected team with decades of experience managing a creative health programme. We are supported by a team of freelance musicians and artists delivering our Stars Appeal Live and Elevate programmes and regular volunteers who help deliver our varied projects, whilst increasing their own skills.
Our funding
core costs, grants, supporters
An annual grant from the hospital’s Stars Appeal allows ArtCare to carry out its core activities. Additional funds are also raised through donations, exhibition sales and grants for other specific projects. ArtCare is currently supported by: the Stars Appeal and ArtCare Friends. Find out how you can support the project.
ArtCare offers
- a full interior design service advising on colour schemes; designing bespoke flooring, wall cladding and ceiling tiles, internal signage; finding innovative ways for displaying information and storage; integral artworks
- participatory arts projects, including regular creative sessions on wards with our Elevate programme, staff arts club workshops, creative team building sessions and activities in our Culture Club
- recording and sharing of the hospital’s historical archives relating to health care in Salisbury
- collaborative projects with local schools, colleges and community, including education resources
- regular temporary exhibition programme
- consultancy on setting up creative health projects, art committees and art fundraising
