By Karen Reid, Chief Executive, Care Inspectorate

Whether we think it or not, we are all creative – everything we do in life has some element of creativity about it. Some of us, granted, may be more creative than others and some indeed gifted. However, as work on the resource pack Arts in Care revealed, no matter what age or stage in life we are at, or ability, being creative can bring meaning, purpose and fulfilment to lives and help people to live well.

The Arts in Care resource pack for the care sector was launched by the Care Inspectorate, in 2016, in partnership with Luminate and Creative Scotland.

Greta, a lady living in a care home involved in developing the pack spoke about how she had used her hands to be creative all her life and still loves it, she was also one of the residents who helped to write a lovely poem called ‘Bird Watching’ which she recited to all the dignitaries at the official launch! Others spoke about how the creative arts helped them to manage some of the symptoms of their ill health and others said it meant they connected more with people and places because of it.

Clearly creativity is a powerful tool to help us to pursue wellness and remain resilient in life and in many cases restore joy that perhaps has been lost or is not often seen. The resource is a good example of how we can support improvement and also links to the new National Care Standards, where there is an expectation that people should be able to engage in creative activity in a way that suits them

The Arts in Care pack helps care staff to provide opportunities for people experiencing care to enjoy a good quality arts experience in the care setting or with the local community. It also encourages care services to link with professional artists.

If you want to read more about Arts in Care, please visit the spotlight area on our Hub at http://hub.careinspectorate.com/improvement/arts-in-care/