Art Centres Supporting Our Elders - 'old people, that's where our strength comes from' - results from a national survey of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled art centres

• Main Authors: P Mackell, K Squires, S Fraser, J Cecil, M Meredith, R Malay, MA Lindeman, C Schmidt, F Batchelor, B Dow
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Education; Specialist studies in education; Health sciences; Health services and systems; Nursing; Aged; Australia; Dementia; Humans; Indigenous Peoples; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; Racial Groups; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; aged care; art centres; Elders; First Nations; Indigenous; remote communities; wellbeing; Aging; 8.1 Organisation and delivery of services; 8 Health and social care services research; Pacific; Queensland; Centre Peak
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10779/DRO/DU:25771056.v1; https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Art_Centres_Supporting_Our_Elders_-_old_people_that_s_where_our_strength_comes_from_-_results_from_a_national_survey_of_Australian_Aboriginal_and_Torres_Strait_Islander_community_controlled_art_centres/25771056

Introduction: There are approximately 90 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled art centres across Australia, the majority in geographically remote locations. This survey explored how these centres are supporting older people, including people living with dementia, if and how they are collaborating with aged care services and what challenges and opportunities they identify in these arrangements. Methods: An online survey was developed by a team of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal researchers, art centre staff and art centre consultants. The survey was distributed in 2018 to art centres across Australia via their four art centre peak bodies: Desart; the Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists; the Indigenous Art Centre Alliance – Far North Queensland and Torres Strait Islands; and the Aboriginal Art Centre Hub – Western Australia. The survey was also conducted face-toface with participants at art centre annual events; and on field trips to North Western and Central Australia, conducted as part of an overarching study. Results: There were 53 completed surveys, with the highest proportion of responses (43%) from art centre managers. The survey generated 330 qualitative responses to the 13 questions that provided this option. The results showed that art centres play a wide ranging and vital role in supporting the health and wellbeing of older artists, many of whom are considered Elders within their communities, and that this reaches far beyond the production of art. The results showed that art centres are a safe place providing older people with the purpose and means to generate income, to enact governance, and to share cultural knowledge through intergenerational connection. Additionally, the results indicate that art centres provide a significant amount of direct care for older people, and that relationships are fundamental to delivering this social, emotional, spiritual and physical care. Furthermore, they showed a great deal of collaboration between art centres and aged ...