Inspire: A journey

2004 Conference

This presentation will draw on the South West Yorkshire Mental Health NHS Trusts experience of setting up, monitoring and evaluating a creativity and mental health project. The Inspire project was a pilot creative arts project employing three artists in residence to lead creative arts activity. Service user participants formed a key part of the project and evaluation team from the outset. The challenge for the evaluation team was to develop methods of evaluation that did not curb the participant’s creativity. However, the team also had to develop evaluation tools that could be used with those participants who did not communicate through language i.e. people with learning disabilities, older people with dementia. The presenters will outline some of the lessons they learnt and will also talk about their innovative methods of disseminating the results of the project and report on some of the positive outcomes for participants.