Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:20 pm on 12 February 2020.
Thank you, Deputy Minister. The cross-party group on arts and health, which I chair, has been looking at areas of good practice around Wales. In our meetings, we've seen some innovative examples of how arts-based activities are being delivered in social care settings across Wales to improve people's physical and mental well-being. One such example has been Age Cymru's six-year programme cARTrefu. It aims to improve access to quality arts experiences for older people in residential care. Artists deliver weekly creative sessions with residents, staff and family members over eight to 12 weeks, inspiring and reigniting a passion for creativity. Since 2015, nearly 2,000 two-hour sessions have been delivered in over 25 per cent of the care homes across Wales, making it the largest project of its kind across Europe.
As demand on social care services across Wales continues to rise, and with a growing understanding of the importance of the arts on health and well-being, support and expansion of projects like cARTrefu are important. Would the Deputy Minister endeavour to look at the good practice that is taking place and how to properly embed this work in our care settings? I'd also like to extend an invitation to the Deputy Minister to attend one of our cross-party groups to hear about some of the excellent collaborative work that's going on.