Museums, Health & Social Care Symposium - speakers and workshops announced

We regret that the Museums, Health & Social Care Symposium has been postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. Ticketholders have been contacted and will receive a full refund. We are looking to reschedule the event to spring 2024, with details announced on the Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums website in due course. 

Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM) will host a symposium for health and social care professionals on Wednesday 13 September 2023.

Taking place in the Great Hall at Newcastle’s Discovery Museum from 10am – 4pm, the symposium will promote the use of museum and gallery activities as health interventions to meet care needs.

Attendees will learn how they can use museum objects and resources as part of their daily care practice through workshop demonstrations, activities and presentations - details of which are below.

Zoe Brown, Outreach Officer at Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, said:

“We’ve created the symposium alongside a steering group of NHS staff, academics and care activity providers. So, it’s an event designed by, and for, health and social care professionals.

“Culture plays such an important part in our wellbeing, and we know that creative activities can support specific clinical and care goals. The symposium will help professionals build confidence in using museums to improve quality of life outcomes for patients and service users.

“Delegates will receive an attendance certificate to support their CPD and reflective accounts for NMC and HCPC revalidation.”

Dr Juliana Thompson, Associate Professor (Adult Nursing), Northumbria University, Newcastle, said:

“We’ve been working in partnership with TWAM for several years and in 2022 we launched the Museums, Health & Social Care resource pack. The symposium will build on that work and help health professionals understand how creativity can benefit their practice, and ultimately, the people they care for.”

Speakers

Dr Ben Jones (TWAM) 
Service users accessing creative and museum interventions within their journeys of addiction recovery.
 
Clara Shield (TWAM) and Occupational Therapy team member at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
Heritage collections in Adult Acute Mental Health wards.
 
Dr Juliana Thompson (University of Northumbria) 
The Museums, Health & Social Care Service (MHS) - Creativity in older people’s care.

Hazel Baron-Cooper (TWAM)
Art interventions with young patients at the Bridges Hospital School.

Michael Cunliffe (North Tyneside Art Studio) and Sophie Mitchell (TWAM)
Using arts collections in community mental health settings.

Eilidh Sweeney (Occupational Therapist, Campus for Ageing and Vitality) and Joanne Charlton (TWAM)
Care, conversation and collections – object handing with older people in forensic wards.

Workshops

Picturing Sounds
Try out the mindfulness and wellbeing sound and art sessions developed with Gateshead recovery service Recovery Connections. Facilitated by Dr Ben Jones (TWAM) and the recovery support worker. Developed as part of the British Library’s Unlocking Our Sound Heritage (UOSH) project.

Mind the Creativity
Heritage object handling session facilitated by Clara Shield (TWAM) supported by a member of the Occupational Therapy Team at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust.
 
The Art of Nursing
Focus on hydration and nutrition for people with dementia. Facilitated by Joanne Charlton (TWAM) and University of Northumbria Nursing and Midwifery team member.
 
Child’s Play Arts
Facilitated by Hazel Baron-Cooper (TWAM).
 
Creative Minds
Facilitated by Michael Cunliffe (North Tyneside Art Studio), Sophie Mitchell (TWAM) and NTAS artist member.

Stalls

Sounds Around
Find out about the playful archival sound game designed for older people with dementia or rehabilitation from stroke, designed in collaboration with Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Volunteering for Wellbeing
TWAM Volunteering team showcase.

Artistic Health and Wellbeing Collaborations at Hatton Gallery

Museums, Health & Social Care Service (MHS)
Explore themed object boxes and tell us which new box themes should be created next.

Standard tickets cost £40 (plus booking fee)

However, a limited number of tickets are also available on a free or ‘pay what you can’ basis, for anyone who financially would not be able to attend otherwise.

Ask your employer about accessing financial support to attend CPD training. They may be able to help.

Refreshments and lunch are provided in the ticket price.

The Museums, Health & Social Care Symposium is particularly suitable for: 

• Community nurses
• Ward nurses
• Mental health nurses
• Health commissioners
• General practioners
• Occupational therapists
• Physiotherapists
• Speech and language therapists
• Students
• Care home staff
• Care home managers
• Social prescribing link workers
• Activity coordinators
• Social workers
• Addiction rehabilitation workers.

Those working in the museums, local government and charities sectors are also encouraged to attend.

Please contact jonathan.loach@twmuseums.org.uk