Creative Health in action in Wirksworth

Nick Davis. Arts Derbyshire, Creative in Place (Wirksworth)

I am in reception at Hannage Brook with Carla Dee (@LovelalalandUK), a local artist motivated by ‘positivity, individuality and everyday joy’. Carla created all the artwork for our 30 Days Creative campaign, which has been underway for three weeks now. Sharing creative suggestions via a poster and calendar campaign, as well as on social media, we have been generating a small ripple of creativity in the surgery and community.  I have enjoyed reading haikus from GP surgery staff, shared my own fondness for tin foil character sculpture, and even seen how people can lift their mood by adding an extra layer of bubble wrap to their outfit!

Today in Hannage Brook, Carla is getting ready for a live artwork session, painting onto the windows of the surgery. The idea is that she will chat to staff and patients as they pass through reception, and create images based on those conversations. I am excited – it feels like 30 Days Creative is going to come to life, and that the new artwork will give every visitor an unspoken sense that Hannage Brook is a creative place. Carla plans to ask people, ‘what brings you joy?’ For me, the answer is: THIS sort of thing! There are some concerns from the surgery that there might be issues, that they may be too busy to cope with an onsite artist. What if she talks to people who are too ill and upsets them? Nonetheless, I am full of optimism.

As she comes into the building, a patient remarks that Carla is like ‘a smiling rainbow’. Everything about Carla is indeed bright – pink hair, a pink ‘Artist at Work’ hoody, multicoloured leggings, and indeed her huge smile. She has warm and friendly greetings for everyone. Carla has created some beautiful 30 Days Creative badges which she is handing out. She tells me that offering small gifts like this has been central to building relationships in communities she works with. It seems to be working. Smiles all round.

Carla is finding out what brings people joy, and also what is going on in their lives. I witness lovely examples of the moments of connection that can arise from a shared creative moment. A local writer, Paul, tells Carla all about the terribly difficult year he has had, about losing his wife, about how hard it was to be a carer. He is emphatic about what brings him joy – sunflowers! Carla agrees to paint one on the window. ‘It’s got to be a big one’ he laughs. Later, emerging after his appointment in the surgery, he looks at the huge, vibrant sunflower taking shape in the window and exclaims ‘This is brilliant!’.

And this is, in a small part, what Creative Health can be. These small moments accumulate in a person, in a community. They can help carry people through. This Creative in Place project is brief, and small scale, but these moments are at the core of what it is all about. Creativity can give us something to keep going for and remind us of the better things in life. As the National Centre for Creative Health (NCCH) puts it ‘There is no health without mental health, and (creative) activities are really good for mental health, but we also know that they have actual impact on physical health as well.’

Hannage Brook is an NHS service, so it’s under pressure. These doctors and other medical staff get just a few minutes with a patient to assess them and make decisions on next steps. Part of my work is to negotiate projects that will fit in around these incredibly busy timeframes. I am constantly trying to identify ways that we can help Hannage to reframe itself as a local centre of Creative Health. An idea for a project emerges from my conversations with Emma the practice’s Business Manager – a series of creative music workshops, in the surgery for people living with dementia, with wrap around support for their carers from members of the Primary Care Team behind the scenes. Carers, as sunflower Paul will tell you, can forget completely about their own needs, lost in caring for someone who they love dearly.

As the plans for the project develop, we start to realise that surgery staff are too busy to come away from their normal working patterns to support it. We are creative, so we are flexible, so we tweak the design – the carers will be encouraged to book in for any appointments that they might need. A newly appointed Social Prescriber, Rachel Metcalfe, has just started in the surgery, and she may be able to help out around these sessions. I talk to Rachel about this in our meeting on her first day in post. She is getting familiar with the rhythms of the surgery, the high pace, the information flying around, the codes for the door locks. She is optimistic, and maybe a little full up with new information at this stage of things. It reminds me of me a few months ago…

Another exciting possibility we are exploring is putting on a play in the surgery. The Arts Derbyshire team have been in touch with theatre maker Imogen Ashby, whose show Dry Bits is a hilarious autobiographical journey through her experience of menopause. We meet up on Zoom with Imogen and Caroline from Derby Theatre, a local resident who has seen the show and really wants to bring it to Wirksworth. It feels like a great opportunity – we can put on a short version of the show in the reception space at the surgery, one of the doctors can take part in a Q&A afterwards. This type of work, turning a healthcare setting into a temporary cultural space, is at the heart of what I really love about Creative Health. Turning things on their head a bit, a bit of surprise, a bit of fun, a new perspective on a healthcare approach. Will we get it past the line and into the surgery?

Watch this space…