Join us for a free online workshop in partnership with Professor James Thompson.
Flourishing Lives, the Flourishing Lives Advisory Group (FLAG), and James Thompson invite you to our free online workshop exploring ‘care aesthetics and the art of care’.
James will speak about his work on the aesthetics of care particularly focused on work with older people living with dementia. He will outline what ‘care aesthetics’ refers to – explaining how it focuses on the sensory, attentive practices of carers and the responses of those for whom they care.
The claim is that a care experience can be examined for the crafted practices that make it happen – and by attending to the qualities of touch, movement of bodies, the use of tempo and materials that create care, we can learn more about its quality.
Care aesthetics is therefore less about art in care and more about the art of care – valuing the extraordinary skills of often undervalued carers. James will outline the research just completed at the University of Manchester with older people living with dementia that has documented the everyday craft of care that makes lives more liveable. The session will include a talk about the origins of and ideas behind ‘the art of care’ and end with a Q and A.
James Thompson is Professor of Applied Theatre at the University of Manchester and co-Director of The Care Lab. He has written widely on applied theatre and now researches care aesthetics applied to dementia and other areas of social care. He is editor of the Routledge Studies in Care Aesthetics series and his book Care Aesthetics: for Artful Care and Careful Art was published in 2022.
Join us to share ideas, refine your working practices, and meet other progressive people who are striving to innovate and excel in arts & wellbeing services for older people.
Date:
Wednesday 10th December, 11.00am-12.30pm GMT