Although pre-lockdown many artists were already skilled in working with older people face to face and had established relationships with care homes and housing associations, their online activities had to be developed suddenly and they were challenged by the intergenerational ‘digital divide’, according to a new report published by the Baring Foundation.
The experience of 62 arts organisations and artists offering creative activities to older people during lockdown have been documented in the report, Key Workers: Creative ageing in lockdown and after, which examines what artists have learnt about the benefits and limitations of engaging remotely with older people.
It concludes that the creative ageing sector needs to innovate and adapt through researching, refining, documenting and disseminating new ways of working, which for the foreseeable future is likely to mean a blended digital and non-digital approach, reliant on the support of funders, especially in the arts and health sectors. 90% of those who took part in the study are worried about their financial viability.