Posted by Jean Matthews

Read this recently and wanted to share….

In this world of targets and clinical guidelines conceptual artist and poet, ‘Arthur and Martha’, are transforming the lives of society’s marginalised individuals, carers, the elderly and asylum seekers by encouraging them to express themselves through art or stories. It is a far cry from the modernising medicine approach where patients are being forced to fit a standardised task-focused service.

People, who had sat quietly in a corner for years hardly uttering a word, started to express themselves by inscribing their thoughts on familiar items such as packets of prescription medicines. What is more useful, a brief and frantic GP visit and a tube of anti-inflammatory gel on the bedside cabinet or a collage of memories from a buried childhood?

Arthur and Martha say how this holistic approach affects those who were confused or heavily medicated; “You could see the lights go on. People with memory difficulties would claim to have no recollection, but then offer amazing stories from when they were four”.

They say life is complex and precious memories can easily be lost and contend that encouraging people to remember everyday experiences could help balance out the darker memories and recast people as rounded individuals and not patients or victims.     

For further information see www.arthur-and-martha.co.uk