Director's Blog - May 2024 | Blog y Cyfarwyddwr - Mis Mai 2024
28/05/2024 | Author: Angela Rogers
Welcome to another jammed packed WAHWN newsletter full of news, fantastic new resources and opportunities! It’s amazing to see so much incredible work happening in our sector.
Dear WAHWN member,
Welcome to another jammed packed WAHWN newsletter full of news, fantastic new resources and opportunities! It’s amazing to see so much incredible work happening in our sector. We’ve come such a long way in the last few years and our sector continues to grow and gain international interest.
We’re excited that our workforce diversity Stepping In pilot programme is now underway. By the time you receive this newsletter we will have recruited our cohort of mentees who are about to embark on a supported learning journey into the world of arts and health. We look forward to understanding how best we can remove barriers for underrepresented practitioners, help support their progress and explore how we shape a longer term ‘Stepping Out’ programme. Thank you to all our diversity-led organisations and networks who have helped share the recruitment materials. We had almost 50 applications which shows a real appetite for inclusive programmes such as this.
As the first year of our Baring Foundation funded How Ya Doing? Programme draws to a close, we now take stock and reflect on how best to support the sector in year two. Our fantastic facilitators: Cai Tomos, Jain Boon, Alison O’Connor and Justine Wheatley have delivered remarkable training and support. As one participant said:
“I will use the energy I now feel, and the new knowledge I have learnt to forge ahead and help inform practice within the organisation to help both staff and the artists we support. Truly a privilege.”
Our Programme Manager, Tracy Breathnach, presented the How Ya Doing? Programme at the Creu Cymru Conference 2024, exploring how we might support the wider arts sector development around wellbeing for artists and staff. You can read her report here.
Our WAHWN Knowledge Bank continues to grow with our incredible sector’s work, including a recent submission from Teri Howson-Griffiths, Strategic Lead for Arts and Health at Betsi Cadwaladr UHB and her recent podcast - The Transformative Impact of Creative Health, where she shares the challenges, opportunities and next steps for arts and health in North Wales. The Arts and Health team at BCUHB were also able to raise the profile of our sector’s work at the recent Wrexham University Conference Patient Friendly Mental Health Services. Teri has shared her take-aways from the conference in a blog.
Hywel Dda UHB launched their Arts & Health Charter during May’s Creativity and Wellbeing week, an event hosted by the health board’s Vice Chair Eleanor Marks. The first of its kind in Wales, the Charter is the health board’s public promise to integrate the arts across its services, making it an integral part of how they deliver health and well-being services. In June, Velindre NHS Trust will launch its new Arts in Health programme with a month-long programme of activity to help staff learn more about how the arts can be incorporated into the cancer centre’s programme, including WNO-led singing workshops targeted at lung patients and creative writing to support palliative patients with their cancer diagnosis. Sally Thelwell, Arts in Health Coordinator at Velindre said:
“I am really excited to launch the programme and celebrate the possibilities that art can bring for staff and patients at Velindre.”
Two new additions to our Knowledge Bank this month are the HDUHB Arts Boost evaluation report and their Creative Prescribing Discovery Programme report, both prepared by Tritech Institute & Innovation through the health board’s Research and Innovation team. The latter report shares recommendations around the key stepping stones needed to embed creative prescribing across the health board. There is growing recognition of the value of social outcome evidence, alongside the need for improved data capture. The Wellness with WNO case study from Welsh National Opera shares the impact of their pan Wales collaboration with long Covid services across several health boards. Their work is exemplar in growing and scaling effective creative interventions, but also highlights there is still a way to go in reaching underrepresented communities not currently accessing support.
Dan Allen, Development Officer, ACW shared his reflections on the Prescription for Life symposium last week. Led by 42nd Street, the event was designed in collaboration with young people with lived experience of the current system and bought together models of best practice across health, social care, voluntary community and social enterprise to share knowledge, strategies and impacts of creative mental health.
“A particular highlight for me was to visit The Horsfall and speak with young people about their experiences and see how they have used creative mental health services to support them. It was clear that this space was very much about looking at the young person as a ‘whole’ with creativity and clinical approaches complimenting each other”. Dan attended the symposium to support the development of the next phase of the Arts and Minds programme, which will explore creativity within CAMHS settings. “The two days reaffirmed our direction of travel in this area and highlighted that the health challenge is vast and requires collaboration and the importance of young people’s voices in designing this work.”
Take-away quotes from the event include ‘patient stories are data with soul’ and ‘creativity is the new vitamin C!”
It was great to have so many members attend our April network meeting and collectively share responses to the vision statements set out in the Welsh Government draft Mental Health strategy. Our WAHWN response has now been submitted and you can read it here. The deadline for responding is 11th June, so there is still time to ensure your voice is heard. This is an ambitious and visionary 10 year strategy, but it's vital we all use this consultation opportunity to highlight how the arts are both supporting recovery, but also offering early creative interventions to maintain and improve health and wellbeing.
In May, Public Health Wales Health Impact Assessment Unit (WHIASU) hosted a session guiding us through the 5-step process of completing a Health Impact Assessment. They highlighted the gap in evidence on how the arts are supporting social inequalities and the potential for our sector to help fill this gap. A recording of the session, along with the presentation slides will be shared shortly. The WHIASU website provides resources to those currently practicing HIA, policy makers and those who are new to the process and are looking for information and evidence. There are links to completed HIAs in Wales and other HIA activities from the Unit, including training and links to resources and guides. WAHWN will now explore research funding to develop a sector wide HIA.
Our Most Significant Change training event with Nick Andrews Research and Practice Development Officer from the DEEP (Developing Evidence Enriched Practice), Swansea University highlighted the power of participants’ stories to demonstrate outcomes and impact and influence change. Most Significant Change is a storytelling approach to gathering and exploring change outcomes that was developed in the context of public health and community development (Davies and Dart 2005). Nick shared impactful examples of how MSC has been used successfully in health and social care to capture the impact of a change in peoples’ lives enabling their views to be heard and explored further in dialogue with relevant stakeholders.
Our in person Creative Health Market Places continue to attract good numbers of arts, third sector and health professionals, with the June Denbighshire event selling out within days. There are still a few spaces for the Gwynedd Marketplace on Tuesday 18th June and Swansea Marketplace on Tuesday 16th July.
Our June network meeting will focus on different approaches to evaluating Arts & Health projects. With increasing expectation from funders for rigorous and robust evaluations, there are a number of approaches we can adopt when we want to evaluate our creative projects. We will be joined by Kathryn Lambert, HDUHB who will share the key learnings and findings from the Creative Prescribing Discovery Programme and Wendy Keay-Bright who led the evaluation of the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board Arts & Minds project. Emily van de Venter, Lead Consultant in Mental Wellbeing, Public Health Wales will join our July network meeting to share an update on the launch of Hapus - the national conversation on mental wellbeing.
Our Go and See bursaries are now open for applications aimed at supporting arts and health freelancers to develop skills and knowledge through training, visits, exchanges or other professional development opportunities that can build knowledge and capacity. A percentage of the bursaries are aimed at supporting artists who are working in ways that support climate justice and enhance our relationship with nature, and a percentage will be dedicated for Welsh language, global majority and Deaf/Disabled practitioners, who have been underrepresented in applications to date.
Following the delegation to North Wales from Belgium recently, Rebecca Hardy-Griffiths, ACW and I had the pleasure of reflecting on the visit with Flanders Art Institute and explored the potential of further collaborations. Initial ideas have included the potential of exchange job shadowing so that colleagues can gain a deeper understanding of each other's practice and policy context.
And finally, Team WAHWN are looking forward to attending the Storytelling for Health and Wellbeing on 10th and 11th June in Cardiff ‘What is the story for arts and health?’. This year the conference is a collaboration between University of South Wales, Swansea Bay University Health Board and Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board. Our Programme Manager, Tracy will join the closing plenary session with other colleagues to share reflections on this theme.
Onwards and upwards!
Angela
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Annwyl aelod WAHWN,
Croeso i gylchlythyr arall gan WAHWN sy’n llawn newyddion, adnoddau a chyfleoedd newydd gwych! Mae’n rhyfeddol gweld cymaint o waith anhygoel yn ein sector. Rydyn ni wedi dod yn bell dros y blynyddoedd diwethaf ac mae’r sector yn parhau i dyfu a denu sylw rhyngwladol.
Mae’n gyffrous bod rhaglen amrywiaeth y gweithlu Camu i Mewn bellach ar waith. Erbyn i chi dderbyn y cylchlythyr hwn byddwn wedi recriwtio’r garfan o fenteion sydd ar fin dechrau ar daith o ddysgu gyda chefnogaeth ym maes y celfyddydau ac iechyd. Rydyn ni’n edrych ymlaen at ddeall y ffordd orau i chwalu rhwystrau i ymarferwyr sydd heb gynrychiolaeth ddigonol, helpu i gefnogi eu cynnydd ac edrych ar sut y gallwn ffurfio rhaglen ‘Camu Allan’ fwy hirdymor. Diolch i’r holl sefydliadau a rhwydweithiau ym maes amrywiaeth sydd wedi helpu i rannu’r deunyddiau recriwtio. Cawsom yn agos i 50 o geisiadau sy’n dangos awydd gwirioneddol i gael rhaglenni cynhwysol fel hon.
Wrth i flwyddyn gyntaf Rhaglen Sut Mae'n Mynd? a gyllidir gan Sefydliad Baring dynnu tua’r terfyn, dyma edrych nôl a myfyrio ar y ffordd orau i gefnogi’r sector yn yr ail flwyddyn. Mae ein hwyluswyr gwych: Cai Tomos, Jain Boon, Alison O’Connor a Justine Wheatley wedi cyflwyno hyfforddiant a chymorth rhyfeddol. Fel y nododd un cyfranogwr:
“Byddaf i’n defnyddio’r egni dwi’n ei deimlo nawr, a’r wybodaeth newydd dwi wedi’i dysgu i symud ymlaen a helpu i lywio fy ymarfer o fewn y sefydliad i helpu staff a’r artistiaid rydyn ni’n eu cefnogi. Braint yn wir.”
Cyflwynodd y Rheolwr Rhaglen, Tracy Breathnach, Raglen Sut Mae’n Mynd? yng Nghynhadledd Creu Cymru 2024, gan drafod sut y gallem ni gefnogi datblygiad sector ehangach y celfyddydau gyda llesiant i artistiaid a staff. Gallwch ddarllen ei hadroddiad yma.
Mae Banc Gwybodaeth WAHWN yn parhau i dyfu gyda gwaith anhygoel y sector, gan gynnwys cyflwyniad diweddar gan Teri Howson-Griffiths, Arweinydd Strategol ar gyfer y Celfyddydau ac Iechyd gyda BIP Betsi Cadwaladr a’i phodlediad diweddar The Transformative Impact of Creative Health lle mae’n rhannu’r heriau, y cyfleoedd a’r camau nesaf i’r celfyddydau ac iechyd yng ngogledd Cymru. Llwyddodd tim Celfyddydau ac Iechyd BIPBC hefyd i godi proffil gwaith y sector yn y gynhadledd ddiweddar ym Mhrifysgol Wrecsam Gwasanaethau Iechyd Meddwl Cyfeillgar i Gleifion . Mae Teri wedi rhannu gwersi o’r gynhadledd mewn blog.
Lansiodd BIP Hywel Dda Siarter y Celfyddydau ac Iechyd yn ystod wythnos Creadigrwydd a Llesiant ym mis Mai, digwyddiad a gynhaliwyd gyda Dirprwy Gadeirydd y bwrdd iechyd Eleanor Marks. Y Siarter hwn yw’r cyntaf o’i fath yng Nghymru, a dyma addewid cyhoeddus y bwrdd iechyd i integreiddio’r celfyddydau ledled ei wasanaethau, gan olygu bod hyn yn rhan hanfodol o’r ffordd maen nhw’n cyflwyno gwasanaethau iechyd a llesiant. Ym mis Mehefin, bydd Ymddiriedolaeth GIG Felindre yn lansio rhaglen Celfyddydau mewn Iechyd newydd gyda rhaglen o weithgaredd dros gyfnod o fis i helpu staff i ddysgu mwy am sut y gellir cynnwys y celfyddydau yn rhaglen y ganolfan ganser, gan gynnwys gweithdai canu gyda Chwmni Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru gyda chleifion ysgyfaint ac ysgrifennu creadigol i gynorthwyo cleifion lliniarol gyda’u diagnosis o ganser. Dywedodd Sally Thelwell, Cydlynydd y Celfyddydau mewn Iechyd yn Felindre:
“Mae’n gyffrous cael lansio’r rhaglen a dathlu’r posibiliadau y gall y celfyddydau eu cyflwyno i staff a chleifion yn Felindre.”
Dau ychwanegiad newydd i’r Banc Gwybodaeth y mis hwn yw adroddiad gwerthuso Hwb Celf BIPHDd a’r adroddiad ar eu Rhaglen Darganfod Rhagnodi Creadigol, y ddau wedi’u paratoi gan Tritech Institute & Innovation drwy dîm Ymchwil ac Arloesi’r bwrdd iechyd. Mae’r ail adroddiad yn rhannu argymhellion ynghylch y camau allweddol sydd eu hangen i wreiddio rhagnodi creadigol ledled y bwrdd iechyd. Ceir cydnabyddiaeth gynyddol o werth tystiolaeth canlyniadau cymdeithasol, ochr yn ochr â’r angen i gipio data yn well. Mae astudiaeth achos Lles gyda WNO gan Gwmni Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru’n rhannu effaith eu cydweithio gyda gwasanaethau Covid hir ar draws nifer o fyrddau iechyd ledled Cymru. Mae’r gwaith yn batrwm ar gyfer tyfu ac ehangu ymyriadau creadigol effeithiol, ond mae hefyd yn tynnu sylw at y ffaith fod ffordd bell i fynd i gyrraedd cymunedau heb gynrychiolaeth ddigonol nad ydyn nhw ar hyn o bryd yn cael cymorth.
Rhannodd Dan Allen, Swyddog Datblygu CCC, ei fyfyrdodau ar y symposiwm Rhagnodi ar gyfer Bywyd. Dan arweiniad 42nd Street, roedd y digwyddiad wedi’i gynllunio mewn cydweithrediad â phobl ifanc â phrofiad byw o’r system gyfredol gan ddod â modelau o arfer gorau ar draws iechyd, gofal cymdeithasol, menter gymunedol a chymdeithasol wirfoddol i rannu gwybodaeth, strategaethau ac effaith iechyd meddwl creadigol.
“Uchafbwynt penodol i mi oedd ymweld â The Horsfall a siarad gyda phobl ifanc am eu profiadau a gweld sut maen nhw wedi defnyddio gwasanaethau iechyd meddwl creadigol i’w cefnogi. Roedd yn amlwg bod y lle hwn yn ymwneud ag edrych ar y person ifanc fel ‘cyfanrwydd’ gyda chreadigrwydd a dulliau clinigol yn ategu ei gilydd.” Roedd Dan yn y symposiwm i gefnogi datblygiad cam nesaf y rhaglen Celfyddydau a Chrebwyll, fydd yn edrych ar greadigrwydd mewn lleoliadau CAMHS. “Roedd y ddau ddiwrnod yn ailddatgan ein cyfeiriad yn y maes ac yn amlygu’r ffaith fod yr her iechyd yn enfawr a bod angen cydweithio ynghyd â phwysigrwydd lleisiau pobl ifanc wrth gynllunio’r gwaith.”
Ymhlith dyfyniadau cofiadwy’r digwyddiad mae ‘mae straeon cleifion yn ddata gydag enaid’ a ‘creadigrwydd yw’r fitamin C newydd!’
Roedd yn wych bod cynifer wedi dod i gyfarfod rhwydwaith mis Ebrill i rannu ymatebion gyda’n gilydd i’r datganiadau o weledigaeth yn strategaeth Iechyd Meddwl ddrafft Llywodraeth Cymru. Mae ymateb WAHWN bellach wedi’i gyflwyno a gallwch ei ddarllen yma. Y dyddiad cau ar gyfer ymateb yw 11 Mehefin, felly mae amser o hyd i chi sicrhau y caiff eich llais ei glywed. Mae hon yn strategaeth 10 mlynedd uchelgeisiol a gweledigaethol, ond mae’n hanfodol ein bod ni i gyd yn defnyddio’r cyfle ymgynghori hwn i dynnu sylw at y ffordd mae’r celfyddydau’n cefnogi adferiad a hefyd yn cynnig ymyriadau creadigol cynnar i gynnal a gwella iechyd a llesiant.
Ym mis Mai, cynhaliodd Uned Gymorth Asesu Effaith ar Iechyd Cymru Iechyd Cyhoeddus Cymru (WHIASU) sesiwn i’n llywio drwy’r broses 5 cam ar gyfer cwblhau Asesiad o’r Effaith ar Iechyd. Tynnwyd sylw at y bwlch tystiolaeth ar sut mae’r celfyddydau’n cefnogi anghydraddoldebau cymdeithasol a’r potensial i’n sector ni allu helpu i lenwi’r bwlch hwn. Caiff recordiad o’r sesiwn, ynghyd â sleidiau’r cyflwyniad eu rhannu’n fuan. Mae gwefan WHIASU yn cynnig adnoddau i’r rheini sydd ar hyn o bryd yn ymarfer Asesiad o’r Effaith ar Iechyd, llunwyr polisïau a’r rheini sy’n newydd i’r broses ac sy’n edrych am wybodaeth a thystiolaeth. Ceir dolenni at Asesiadau sydd wedi’u cwblhau yng Nghymru a gweithgareddau eraill yn gysylltiedig ag Asesiadau gan yr Uned, gan gynnwys hyfforddiant a dolenni at adnoddau a chanllawiau. Bydd WAHWN nawr yn edrych am gyllid ymchwil i ddatblygu Asesiad ar gyfer y sector cyfan.
Roedd y digwyddiad hyfforddi Newid Mwyaf Arwyddocaol gyda Nick Andrews, Swyddog Ymchwil ac Ymarfer gyda DEEP (Datblygu Arfer a Gyfoethogir gan Dystiolaeth) ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe, yn tynnu sylw at bŵer straeon cyfranogwyr i ddangos canlyniadau ac effaith a dylanwadu ar newid. Mae Newid Mwyaf Arwyddocaol yn ddull adrodd straeon o gasglu ac archwilio newid, a chafodd ei ddatblygu yng nghyd-destun iechyd y cyhoedd a datblygu cymunedol (Davies and Dart 2005). Rhannodd Nick enghreifftiau effeithiol o sut mae’r dull wedi’i ddefnyddio’n llwyddiannus mewn gofal iechyd a chymdeithasol i nodi effaith newid ym mywydau pobl a galluogi i’w barn gael ei chlywed a’i hystyried ymhellach mewn dialog gyda rhanddeiliaid perthnasol.
Mae ein Marchnadoedd Iechyd Creadigol wyneb yn wyneb yn parhau i ddenu niferoedd da o weithwyr proffesiynol o’r celfyddydau, y trydydd sector ac iechyd, gyda digwyddiad mis Mehefin yn sir Ddinbych yn gwerthu allan o fewn dyddiau. Mae rhai llefydd yn dal ar ôl ar gyfer Marchnad Gwynedd ddydd Mawrth 18 Mehefin ac Marchnad Abertawe dydd 16 Gorffenaf.
Bydd cyfarfod rhwydwaith mis Mehefin yn canolbwyntio ar wahanol ddulliau o werthuso prosiectau Celfyddydau ac Iechyd. Gyda chyllidwyr yn gynyddol yn disgwyl gwerthusiadau trylwyr a chadarn, ceir nifer o ddulliau y gallwn eu mabwysiadu pan fyddwn ni am werthuso ein prosiectau creadigol. Yn ymuno â ni fydd Kathryn Lambert, BIPHDd, fydd yn rhannu gwersi a chanfyddiadau allweddol y Rhaglen Darganfod Rhagnodi Creadiol a Wendy Keay-Bright oedd yn arwain y gwerthusiad o brosiect Celfyddydau a Chrebwyll Bwrdd Iechyd Prifysgol Cwm Taf Morgannwg. Bydd Emily van de Venter, Ymgynghorydd Arweiniol mewn Llesiant Meddyliol gyda Iechyd Cyhoeddus Cymru’n ymuno â chyfarfod rhwydwaith mis Gorffennaf i rannu diweddariad ar lansio Hapus – y sgwrs genedlaethol ar lesiant meddwl.
Mae’r bwrsariaethau Mynd i Weld bellach yn derbyn ceisiadau â’r nod o gefnogi gweithwyr llawrydd yn y celfyddydau ac iechyd i ddatblygu sgiliau a gwybodaeth drwy hyfforddiant, ymweliadau, cyfnewidiadau neu gyfleoedd datblygu proffesiynol eraill a all feithrin gwybodaeth a gallu. Mae canran o’r bwrsariaethau wedi’u hanelu at gefnogi artistiaid sy’n gweithio mewn ffyrdd sy’n cefnogi cyfiawnder hinsawdd ac yn cyfoethogi ein perthynas gyda natur, a bydd canran yn cael ei neilltuo i ymarferwyr Cymraeg, mwyafrif byd-eang a Byddar/Anabl, sydd heb gael cynrychiolaeth ddigonol o ran ceisiadau hyd yma.
Yn dilyn ymweliad dirprwyaeth i ogledd Cymru o Wlad Belg yn ddiweddar, cafodd Rebecca Hardy-Griffiths, CCC a fi bleser wrth fyfyrio ar yr ymweliad gyda Sefydliad Celf Fflandrys gan drafod potensial cydweithio pellach. Mae’r syniadau cychwynnol yn cynnwys posibilrwydd o gysgodi swyddi cyfnewid er mwyn i gydweithwyr gael gwell dealltwriaeth o ymarfer a chyd-destun polisi ei gilydd.
Ac yn olaf, mae tîm WAHWN yn edrych ymlaen at Adrodd Straeon ar gyfer Iechyd a Llesiant ar 10 ac 11 Mehefin yng Nghaerdydd ‘Beth yw’r stori ar gyfer celfyddydau ac iechyd?’ Eleni mae’r gynhadledd yn gydweithrediad rhwng Prifysgol De Cymru, Bwrdd Iechyd Prifysgol Bae Abertawe a Bwrdd Iechyd Prifysgol Cwm Taf Morgannwg. Bydd ein Rheolwr Rhaglen, Tracy yn ymuno â’r sesiwn lawn olaf gyda chydweithwyr i rannu myfyrdodau ar y thema hon.
Ymlaen!
Angela
