On November 9th 2015, SLOW was invited to take part in an All Party Parliamentary Group Round Table

The purpose to discuss  ‘The Arts and Palliative Care, Dying and Bereavement’

The contributions to the table came from a wide variety of people working in a spectrum of organisations interested in arts-based approaches to health and well-being.

Areas of work represented included oncology, general practice, hospice and end of life care, music therapy, psychotherapy, bereavement support, therapeutic writing, art therapy, film – making, and residential care.

Information gathered from the discussion will inform a collaborative 2 year Inquiry on Arts, Health and Well-being.

The group heard about SLOW’s collaboaration with Sofie Layton  including the creative textiles project and the performance of REST.

It was an incredibly positive discussion with all involved agreeing that the creative arts give a voice to people in grief, rather than pathologising and medicalising it.

The chairperson, Baroness Finlay, acknowledeged that young people who do not receive bereavement support can suffer greatly later in life as they make their way into the world and that the arts and can provide them with a unique vehicle for expression at the time of their bereavement.

I hope that the Inquiry will lead to something concrete to help those facing the difficulties of bereavement in the future, through the Arts.