How COVID-19 & UK government policy shaped the new world of applied theatre in British care homes

ABSTRACT

This article provides an insight into the relationship between applied theatre, COVID-19, and UK Government policy in British care homes. This reflection draws upon the experiences of an applied theatre practitioner, who worked in a care home during the height of COVID-19 in 2020. The author shares the impact of COVID-19 government policy, her applied theatre practice, and the implications of this for the practitioner, residents, and staff. The text offers a grounded perspective on the relationship between policy and practice, indicating how uncharted policy terrain can shape a new world of applied theatre in care home contexts.

KEYWORDS:

• Applied theatre
• care homes
• COVID-19
• creative ageing

Introduction

Please take off your goggles and pull down your mask, I want to see your face, I haven’t seen anyone’s face in so long. Authors Reflective Journal 2020

A sign on the front door says, ‘due to COVID-19 all external visitors are prohibited from entering this building’ (Authors Reflective Journal 2020). It has been 3 months since residents have been able to see their loved ones. I enter via the newly secured entrance and wait as my temperature is taken. The home is quiet, long gone is the hustle and bustle of everyday activity and now an anxious silence fills the space, which is interrupted with sounds of call bells and the rattling of the tea trolly.

This journey to the residents’ rooms evidences the impact of COVID-19. The corridors are lined with anti-bacterial hand sanitiser. Rolls of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) gowns, masks, and plastic gloves are strategically placed on key tables, although there isn’t enough PPE and some care workers are reduced to wearing plastic bin bags in a bid to protect themselves. The increasing number of vacant rooms is a reminder of those we have lost to Coronavirus.

This article is a reflective practitioner account that shares a rare example of applied theatre practice in care homes during the height of COVID-19. It illuminates the impact of United Kingdom (UK) government policy in relation to applied theatre and contributes an insight into how one practitioner radically shifted and adapted their practice during an unprecedented global pandemic. This reflection calls for the integration of applied theatre practitioners within care home staff and champions the role that theatre can play in processing the trauma among residents, families, and care practitioners.

The transformative power of applied theatre in care homes is well documented. Research conducted by the Baring Foundation (2019, 8) demonstrates that creative engagement in later life can lead to ‘better health, fewer visits from doctors, less medication, increased physical activity and social engagement’. Anne Bastings advocates that theatre can transform care homes from being viewed as a place where ‘ … we’re forced to go, sometimes kicking and screaming … ’. Instead, when creativity is interwoven into the culture of care ‘the tension between them vibrates with possibility’ (Bastings 2020, 55) and the space becomes filled with the basic human needs of laughter, beauty, friendship, and connection. Caoimhe McAvinchey (2013, 362) argues that applied theatre can also reposition residents ‘not as passive recipients but as collaborators in a creative process’, transforming the relationship between staff and care receivers from caregiver to care recipient to co-artists/co-collaborators. This article contributes towards the existing literature by reflecting upon the recent pandemic and adds to the cultural shift that has thrust care homes into the public eye, something which has not always been the case.

UK COVID-19 policy, British care homes and applied theatre practice

In early 2020, COVID-19 quickly became a looming threat towards care homes and applied theatre practice in the UK. By the 13th of March 2020, leading UK care providers declared that they would be stopping all non-essential visits and entry to their care settings (BBC News 2021). On the 24th of March, a national lockdown began, and by the 2nd of April the Department of Health & Social Care announced that ‘family and friends should be advised not to visit care homes, except next of kin in exceptional situations such as end of life’ (BBC News 2021). As access to care homes became at best restricted and at worse non-existent, applied theatre practice for many ground to a halt. The Department of Health & Social Care (2020) stated that residents should not be put ‘at avoidable risk of contracting COVID-19, which can have such a devastating impact if it spreads through a care home’. Government policy encouraged residents not to sit in communal areas, to stay in their rooms as much as possible and to commune at a 2-m distance (Wigan Council 2020). Consequently, residents were confined to their rooms and communal activities were removed.

As an artist facilitator directly employed by a care provider, I was granted permission to continue to deliver drama activities and thus I had to develop a practice that would bring us all together whilst safely keeping us apart. This was achieved through working on a one-on-one basis in residents’ rooms, where I took the time to learn about the residents’ interests, desires, and concerns. I discovered that there was a need to connect with others in the home and this led to a creative ‘pen pal’ style of working. We would form a collection of short stories, where each week I would work with residents to create a setting, theme, and series of characters. We used an iPad to bring characters to life, share improvisations, and ‘hot seating’ questions which were circulated and answered. Towards the end of our project, we recorded each story in a monologue style which was shared via multiple iPads with the wider community of the home. Technology allowed the work to transcend the four walls of the bedroom and flow throughout the setting.

Theatre provided residents with an opportunity for mental stimulation, connectivity, and acted as a tool to process their grief and trauma. One resident commented ‘what I’ve learnt is that art it’s good for the soul, it makes it sing and always comes from the heart’ (Authors reflective journal 2020). Applied theatre facilitated a space where even in some of the hardest parts of resident’s lives creativity enabled beauty, growth, learning, and joy to still be possible (Bastings 2020, 5).

The intimate nature of working one-on-one meant I formed strong connections with residents. For many, this would be the only sustained conversation that they would have on a given day. The weekly sessions combatted social isolation and enabled residents to suspend reality for a time, offering respite from the situation, while providing them with a platform to say, ‘we’re still here’ (Authors reflective journal, 2020). The work also supported staff who drew pleasure and comfort from knowing that the practice provided connection for residents and relieved some of the guilt of leaving them in their rooms on their own for long periods.

The project forced me to develop a new level of emotional resilience. Days spent being directly exposed to COVID-19, with only a surgical mask, plastic gloves and goggles to protect myself, took their toll and were often coupled with the fear of contracting the virus. The emotional labour of developing and investing in a relationship with participants was complex, highly skilled, and demanding (McAvinchey 2013). After I experienced the deaths of multiple residents the knowledge that they died without their loved ones surrounding them weighed heavy. Long days trying to fight and escape an invisible virus against a backdrop of constant handwashing, mask-induced acne and social distancing was mentally and physically exhausting. Applied theatre facilitated a space where I too could escape, where the residents and I sought refuge in the creative world that we had formed.

Conclusion

Now is the time for practitioners to explore the new world of applied theatre post-COVID-19. Recent research by Abraham, James, and McGeorge (2020) examining applied theatre in NHS hospitals has shown a clear positive impact for developing social functioning, while promoting wellbeing and personhood. There is no reason why the same could not be achieved in care homes. Freelance practitioners should now advocate to become core members of staff. Not only would this integrate the practice into the culture of care homes, it would also ensure its continuation should another lockdown take place. Practitioners should also be aware of the long-term imprint that COVID-19 policy has left on residents, families, and staff. Now, more than ever, applied theatre is needed to navigate and process the trauma and grief that will lurk for some time as a result of the pandemic.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Georgia Grace Bowers

Georgia Bowers is a nationally recognised artist facilitator/researcher who specialises in applied theatre practice with adults aged 65+. Currently, she is a PhD student at the University of Portsmouth, where she is investigating the impact of applied theatre in relation to adults aged 65+ in South East England.