Looking at previous dissertations for ideas...

I prefer making notes in a notebook when I am researching rather than typing it straight up onto here; it's more flexible (for example allows me to research on the train/bus as my laptop is big and unreliable) and personally I find it quicker to write than type. I also find it easier to read off of paper than screen, so it's easier this way for when I will be reading it all back. For these reasons I will do my written research blog posts as scans of my notebook, summarising the most important points and findings at the end. 

As I was feeling a bit stumped about how to start, I went to the library to find some dissertations that may have been on a similar topic to get some good ideas of what the dissertation even looks like and potentially good texts. I am happy for my current vague idea to take a different path and change if thats what it takes to be a more refined topic, so looking at other previous projects could (and has been so far) be massively helpful. 

Summary and ideas:

• Can the look and design of an institution affect how people feel and change their emotional responses on a day to day basis? Is this particularly important in care homes, especially in dementia wards, as people can become frustrated and anxious due to not fully understanding where they are and why they are there? Can the colours/lighting they are exposed to have an extra effect on this (for example if it feels especially clinical and they do not remember they have dementia, and wonder why they are in a hospital and not at home)?

• Can other factors, such as sounds and smells, have an added effect? What is assumed to induce the sense of homeliness and comfort and is this taken into consideration?

• Are there certain colours/smells/sounds that could be used to calm down the majority of potentially anxious dementia sufferers in wards? 

• Is it important to invest in the design of wards for the residents health and wellbeing? How many institutions regard this as something important? How many institutions have the budget to be able to do this, and how many would like to be able to?

Thoughts

I have been reading past dissertations and books from the library (will blog the relevant findings next) but I am starting to have some thoughts towards a more refined direction. I 
want to summarise them and write them down before I forget them.

In short...

The types of art therapy that could be potentially used to "treat" dementia would be 'art as a life enhancement' rather than 'art as rehabilitation'. This is because there is currently no cure for dementia and it would not help in stopping the degeneration of the brain caused by the disease, or improve it. However, life enhancement is something I feel very strongly about and that the quality of life for dementia sufferers should be as positive as possible. 

To focus more on art therapy as life enhancement would be a much better direction than art therapy as a whole, as it is more relevant to dementia. I could also focus on factors like the impact of institutional design/exposure to art on the NHS compared to private hospitals and care homes, as this is something that would surely affect quality of life. 

COP 3 - Starting to use my brain again after most of summer

I will come clean straight away and admit I have not done as much work as I should have done up until now. I was busy having too much fun and forgot what the date was. 

I have begun to get my head back into COP by re-reading my proposal - it was written 5 months ago now, and to be honest I can barely remember what I had written. I know I need to seriously start whittling the idea of art therapies and dementia down; pick sub themes and explore them more deeply, rather than looking at the subject as a whole. It is too broad even for 9000 words. 

I potentially like the idea of looking into NHS vs Private treatments for dementia and the availability or choice of creative therapies within these treatments; I don't know what sort of question I would be developing yet. Within this I could look at the use of art and design within healthcare environments such as dementia wards and homes, various creative treatments and have a vast number of studies to research into and reference. I could touch on subjects such as colour and design psychology, what different therapies are available in private hospitals and homes compared to the NHS, and does/could this have any sort of lasting effect on the patients. 

I am interested to find out that if on the NHS, as they have less time and money, they push creative therapies less as some people would deem them less effective than certain medications; for example in calming dementia induced anxiety, as it is easier to shove someone a pill rather than sit down and spend quality time with them. I want to see if the extra money private institutions have to spend on the hospital/care home environment and extra staff make a difference; for example do NHS homes have events staff that can do creative workshops with residents? 

I know these ideas are still to waffly and I still need to condense it all down, but I feel better about it than I did before; at least now there is some sort of direction within all the mess. 

OUIL501 End of Module Evaluation

This has been, once again, by far my least favourite module to complete of the year. Even so, it has pushed me to develop a number of skills further, putting me in better stead than I would have been for next year's research project and dissertation. I have learned the importance of primary research, through executing my own for the final practical brief, and how it can impact the quality of a final outcome; COP is not just about writing an essay, it's about developing knowledge by following your own interests and finding out about a subject that engages you yourself. The primary research gave me a wealth of material I could work with for my final book and gave me a better understanding of the subject I was trying to communicate; if I don't fully understand it, then how could anyone possibly else when looking at my book? It helped brilliantly with idea generation, what I usually struggle with the most under time pressure and what makes me dislike COP so much, as you have to be so engaged with your subject and ideas for it to become a successful module. 

The practical brief has strengthened my ability to be able to plan and successfully make a working concertina book; last time I attempted this there were tears and many late nights trying to work out where I had gone wrong and how to fix it. The key was basically to avoid Indesign (my nemesis), instead working out on paper the layouts, measurements and how it would all fit together. This probably isn't what most people would recommend but it is a method that definitely works for me; the ruler guides on Photoshop gave me everything I needed to know and I could create my own crop marks and everything that Indesign would normally do, except it was a lot easier. I would now consider making little books more than I previously would have for final pieces; they are lovely to have at the end when they are finished, such nice little objects! 

I have also learned how important it is to manage my time and workload (yet again); I have learned this the hard way, by letting the  module slip to the bottom of my pile as it slowly ran alongside other modules that I deemed as being more important to allocate my time to. As a result, I had to do most of my practical work in the space of about a week - luckily the outcome is pretty good and I am happy with it, but it could have easily swung the other way if there had been any problems, as I would have had no available time to deal with them. This is a mistake I absolutely have to address for next year; it is too heavily weighted in our grades to let it slip down to "less important" and will require too much time to simply pull it out of the bag in a week or so. I was also in a lucky position to conduct the further research towards the practical brief, as I was surrounded by my subject matter (people from all over the country who I could easily interview for their local slang). If the research had been harder to collect, for example if I had to go out of town or had been a slower and more thoughtful process, I would not have had as much to work with as I would not have had enough time. 

Using what I have learned from my experiences managing my time on this module, I am going to start my reading and research for COP3 as soon as possible; definitely over the summer and build up a bank of useful material that I can start working with when the time is ready. This is not something that needs to be left to simmer and I can't afford to make the same mistakes again, as I doubt I would be so lucky again for everything to go so smoothly so last minute. The research proposal has given me some good starting points and made me a little more excited about the prospect of having to undertake such a massive project completely based on my own interests and idea - before it just seemed terrifying. I would like to be able to enjoy COP3 as much as possible and get as much out of it as I can, definitely not having a third repeat of what COP has been for the past two years. 

COP3 Research Proposal

Essay final draft

Final Book: "Britannia Barbara"

Here are a selection of images to show my final book. I am really happy with the outcome; the heavyweight matte paper works really well with the reds and blues, as well as giving it a nice sturdy structure and clean folds. The concertina moves well and the little size gives it a nice touch; it's sort of like a pocket guide for northern slang! It could also look good hung up down a wall as well as a book. The safety pin was an accidental addition when the belly band was a little too small and wouldn't reach around the back but it looks pretty cool; sort of punk, which in itself is very British. The only downside is that my hand slipped when sticking the hinges and pages together (even though I did it very slowly and carefully) so some of them very slightly don't line up; you could look at it like it adds a nice hand made quality though!

It goes to show that when the effort to do proper research it put in, it makes a massive difference to the final outcome of a project; I had so much material to use and choose the best from. This has also made me enjoy making books slightly more, even though I still think they are a pain to make and probably won't choose them as my final pieces often!