Creativity in Every Care Home
Everyone living in a care home should have the opportunity to take part in high-quality creative and cultural experiences. This is the ambition behind our new campaign “Creativity in Every Care Home.”
Over the next two years, thanks to funding from Baring Foundation and with support from the National Activity Providers Association (NAPA), we'll be highlighting examples of good practice, listening to the experiences of people living and working in care homes, and collaborating with the adult social care sector and cultural sector to champion the case for change.
Douglas Hunter, our CEO, said: "Creative care should have greater equity to physical care. We know creativity can make a real difference to people’s health, wellbeing and quality of life in care homes. But we also know that access to these opportunities remain inconsistent. Too often it can come down to individual care staff or managers championing creativity rather than being seen as a 'must have' across the board.
"For us, creativity in care is about giving people opportunities to use their imagination, retain their identify, follow their interests, make choices, form relationships and continue doing the things that bring enjoyment and meaning to their lives."
Through Creativity in Every Care Home, we'll showcase the excellent work that is happening and explore the changes needed to help ensure people living in care have access to the benefits creativity can bring.
Our campaign builds on a growing evidence base for the role of arts and creativity in residential care.
A 2026 evidence review commissioned by Arts Council England profiles the benefits including improved wellbeing, quality of life, a boost to mood, as well as reductions in anxiety and depression and evidence of wider social value.
The report was carried out by Dr Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt
Read more about the report here
- Are you already a Creative Care Home or would like to find out how to join us?
- Are you an artist interested in joining our team delivering creative workshops within care settings?
- Or do you have a general question for the team about how we can support your organisation?
We'd love to hear from you. Please fill in the short form on below.
Jenny Hawthorn, activities coordinator at Craigielea Care Home, said: “Moving into a care home it can be hard to lose your independence, give up your routines and your home. We work to bring those bits of normality back to their lives, to make things as normal and as enjoyable as possible.”
“You can be supporting people with differing and complex needs to engage. It’s about being in the moment together and supporting people to have some independence back through activities and creativity.” Activities coordinator Coral Shaw
About the evidence - Arts in Care Homes for Older People
The Arts in Care Homes for Older People was commissioned by Arts Council England and carried out by Dr Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt in 2026. The review considered peer-reviewed research, project evaluations and relevant policy developments, bringing together evidence on the impact of arts engagement for older people living in residential care.
It identified benefits including improvements in wellbeing, quality of life and mood; reductions in anxiety and depression; positive effects within the wider care-home environment; and evidence of social value and potential savings across health, care and medication costs.
Headline findings of the review:
- Substantial evidence base linking the arts to positive outcomes for older people in residential and nursing care
- Robust evidence of arts participation and reception alleviating anxiety and depression
- Some evidence of arts increasing wellbeing and quality of life in care homes
- Music therapy seen to diminish symptoms of dementia-related psychosis
- Arts improve communication, sociability and connection across care homes
- Music/theatre activities generate social value of £1.20 for every £1 invested, helping to save health & care costs of <£8,000 per person
- Visual arts activities generate social return on investment in range of £3.20 to £6.62 per £1 invested
