Evaluation

Over the first four years, cARTrefu delivered 1840 two-hour art workshops in over 25% of the care homes across Wales. Age Cymru has been able to offer these workshops entirely for free due to the generous support from the Arts Council of Wales and the Baring Foundation.

Following the first phase of cARTrefu, a full evaluation was conducted by the Dementia Service Development Centre Wales at Bangor University, to explore the impact of the art residencies on all involved. The findings were as follows:

Residents 

– A statistically significant improvement in wellbeing scores after attending cARTrefu sessions.

– Residents rated 86% of sessions as highly enjoyable (4 or 5 on a 5 point scale).

– Wider impact such as socialising more and regaining skills such as using a knife and fork.

Staff

– A statistically significant improvement in attitudes towards residents, especially those living with dementia.

– A statistically significant increase in confidence to lead a creative arts session in the home.

– Statistically more likely to seek out participatory or spectator cultural experiences (i.e. arts classes, visiting gallery/theatre) outside of work.

Artists

– A statistically significant improvement in attitudes, including hope and recognition of person-hood towards residents.

– Personal development and the development of new skills.

You can find a summary of the findings and the full report on our resources page. 

While the evaluation of the first phase provides a strong evidence-base of the impact of cARTrefu it was felt an analysis on the Social Return on Investment would provide additional evidence on the social value generated by the activities. 

The SROI analysis, conducted by the Dementia Service Development Centre Wales at Bangor University, found that cARTrefu delivered a Social Return on Investment of £6.48 for every pound invested.