Evaluation of the impact on audiences of Inside Out of Mind, research-based theatre for dementia carers

Abstract

Background: A play about dementia care was taken on tour, funded by the Big Lottery through Arts Council England, to six cities. This paper explores its impact, mainly on professional carers.

Methods: Mixed methods were applied; semi-structured self-completion questionnaires and subsequent telephone interviews to a stratified sample of respondents. Framework analysis was used, paying particular attention to critical comments.

Results: Post-show questionnaires were submitted by 1035 (19%) and 64 people were later interviewed. Audience members expressed heightened awareness of the needs of people with dementia, with greater appreciation of the care process itself and of the challenges faced by professional dementia carers in hospitals and other long-term settings.

Conclusions: This production of Inside Out of Mind afforded an effective medium for knowledge transfer. It engaged audiences with key issues – including dignity, identity and loss – and enabled them to reflect on these issues, while encouraging appropriate practical responses.

Keywords:

• Drama
• dementia
• nursing
• theatre
• evaluation

Acknowledgements

Inside Out of Mind was written by Tanya Myers with Dr Stephen Lowe as dramaturg. Its first full production was by Meeting Ground Theatre Company in 2013. The touring production was produced by Nottingham Lakeside Arts and Meeting Ground Theatre Company, and the Arts Council England/National Lottery Strategic Touring Fund subsidised the national tour. This grant included an element for the evaluation reported here. Further support for the wider project was provided by Health Education England and the RCN Foundation. Dr Kezia Scales, Dr Simon Bailey and Dr Joanne Middleton undertook the originating research, which was led by the author and funded by a grant from the UK National Institute for Health Research number 08/0813/222. Thea Wolff conducted the telephone interviews. The core team behind the production also included: Shona Powell, the director of Nottingham Lakeside Arts, a public arts centre linked to the University of Nottingham; Steve Mapp, of Broadway Media Centre, Nottingham; independent producer Vanessa Rawlings-Jackson; and the author. Details of the production personnel and cast can be found at http://www.meetinggroundtheatrecompany.co.uk/inside-out-of-mind-2015. The author was responsible for commissioning the play, convening a group to develop the production, promoting the show to health and social care leaders and evaluating its impact.

Notes

1. See Acknowledgements.