Here is a link to my recent work with people with learning disabilities, where we were using participatory theatre to find out what we needed to know about ageing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TwLpMBGhcM&t=702s
I am interested in ageing as understood through the arts. There are several areas of my research: cultural narratives of ageing; cultural participation and social inequality; wellbeing with dementia; junior doctor wellbeing. I have also investigated the challenge of demonstrating evidence for arts on prescription programmes.
My research in the fields of art consumption, lifelong learning and healthcare addresses questions around wellbeing, resilience and inclusion.
I read English Literature and History of Art at Edinburgh University and gained my PhD from the University of Newcastle in 2016. I previously worked at the universities of Newcastle and Manchester. In Manchester, I researched and developed the co-produced approach for the Ambition for Ageing programme, a £10.2 million programme of work which used a collaborative approach to combating social isolation.
I have been a PI and CI on a number of national research projects, bringing in £1.9M. These include:
- The role of creative interventions in fostering connectivity and resilience in older people is an AHRC-funded project critically reflecting on a range of approaches to developing resilience including community-led design, visual arts interventions, gardening and theatre.
- Contemporary visual art and identity construction - wellbeing amongst older people, funded by the cross-research council New Dynamics of Ageing Programme. This project used a qualitative approach to gauge a range of older people's reactions to visiting contemporary art galleries. This led to a follow-on project which contributed to research-informed arts policy and interventions designed to improve the lives of older people.
- Dementia and Imagination: Connecting communities and developing well-being through socially engaged visual arts practice, funded by the AHRC Connected Communities Programme: Communities, Cultures, Health & Well-Being Large Grants. This project brought together researchers from social sciences in areas such as dementia, gerontology, psychology and economics with research in the visual arts, cultural policy and museum studies. The project looked at developing well-being and connecting communities through socially engaged visual arts practice.
- Research for Community Heritage was funded by AHRC under the Connected Communities Programme and involved working with heritage groups to develop their projects.
I am co-editor of The Sociology of the Arts book series published by Palgrave Macmillan.
Recent research projects include:
P.I. Reading with Dementia - developing dementia-friendly reading strategies, training and resources
P.I. 'What do we want to know about getting old? Co-producing strategies with people with learning disabilities to age well.
Co-I - An evaluation of the GMC and HEE Flexible Portfolio pilot programme
Co-I - Interaction, Dementia and Engagement in Arts for Lifelong Learning
SRA - 2020 Medical Graduates: The work and wellbeing of interim Foundation Year 1 doctors during COVID-19
Research Fellow - Big Lottery Fund's Ageing Better programme 'Ambition for Ageing'. A £10.2 million Greater Manchester level programme aimed at creating more age friendly places and reducing social isolation.
