Agenda item

To consider the evaluation of the creative care commissions and the key principles for future commissioning – Kate Sahota and Emily van de Venter

Kate Sahota, WCC lead commissioner for family wellbeing introduced this item. It was reported that the Coventry and Warwickshire Creative Health Alliance (CWCHA) was established in 2019 to strengthen the links between the creative, health and care sectors across the sub-region. Funding had been secured to develop a creative health social prescribing system and the total fund available for this programme over three years was £891,000. The start of the programme had been delayed due to the Covid pandemic. An outline was provided of the activity undertaken, the submission of proposals and the creative projects delivered in 2020:

• Armonico Consort: Artists recorded videos of singing workshops which were shared with individuals, residential homes, and care homes to watch and engage with.
• Arts Uplift: Four subprojects, with online and offline aspects, supported groups of people through dance, creative writing, music and song writing, and hand sewing.
• Escape Arts and Sitting Rooms of Culture: Production of a physical booklet and digital resources to facilitate creativity, delivered to participants including hospital patients and staff.
• Live & Local: Ten creative partnerships were facilitated between artists and Warwickshire communities with various creative outputs (e.g. a short film and a book).
• My Voice Lifts My Soul: A series of weekly group online sessions focussed around Singing for Lung Health, attended by participants living with respiratory conditions.
• Open Theatre: A series of weekly group online sessions for young people with learning disabilities focussed around drama and resulting in the creation of a short film.
• Starfish Collaborative: An online group journaling project for new mothers, online digital media sessions for a group of young people, and an offline collation of community art.
• Sundragon Pottery: Individuals and charity organisations were provided with the resources needed to create with clay, along with provision of a second follow-on box.

The projects had been evaluated by Coventry University and the findings were appended to the report. They were summarised thematically under the following headings:

• Impact of creative arts on health and wellbeing
• Mobilising, delivery and evaluating creative health projects
• Lessons learnt and project legacy
• Measuring the impact

The report set out the financial implications and the cost for the creative health programmes commissioned during this period totalled £80,000. A further report would be provided on the progress of the broader suite of commissioned creative health services in November 2021. A short video was displayed to provide supplementary information on the creative care commissions.

Questions and comments were invited from the Board.

• Sir Chris Ham asked how this related broadly to social prescribing and how the projects would be sustained. Kate Sahota gave an outline of the social prescribing commissions undertaken as a first phase, the six in place now, how services were aligned within WCC and the close work with GPs.
• Councillor Roodhouse spoke of similar initiatives previously, which had subsequently been discontinued. For the further report in November he asked that this include detail on how these initiatives would be embedded in future commissioning processes. The approach should be adopted for the county council’s wider commissioning arrangements. This information would be provided in the subsequent report. Reference also to the matched funding provided by Barnardos and Arts Connect.
• The video clip was uplifting. The programmes would have been helpful to people living alone, those shielding or where they were isolated due to maternity, without usual access to family or friends.   A further point on tackling health and wider inequalities. It was questioned if participants were helped to link to other longer-term initiatives, to fulfil their potential in terms of talent or employment opportunity. Sustainability was a key aspect raised, with each individual having an evaluation at the end of the programme to focus on their next steps, such as seeking an apprenticeship.
• The Chair spoke of the importance of sustainability, the benefits of the evaluation process and determining where these programmes fitted within service provision for mental health and wellbeing.

Resolved

That the Health and Wellbeing Board notes and comments upon the evaluation of the creative care commissions and the key principles for future

commissioning, as set out above.