Embracing the Creative Arts

Creative arts at Demelza

We use creative arts to embrace the fun, the sad, the silly and the precious, unforgettable moments of family life, intertwining the arts amongst regular care service provision in every way possible.

We pride ourselves in having a dedicated Creative Arts Therapy Team that provide individual, family and group sessions. Music and art therapy use creative experiences to target specific therapeutic outcomes. At the hospice sites in Kent and South East London, there are dedicated music and art rooms, where feelings that are often too difficult to put into words are played out or drawn.

Family Liaison Practitioners use arts and crafts in their weekly virtual support groups run for siblings, to promote social opportunities and reduce feelings of isolation often felt by siblings of children with a serious or terminal condition. They have taken great delight in sharing their stories through writing, pictures and puppets and have created their own Show and Tell times to celebrate their works of art.

As well as the expert medical care the children receive you will often find the Care Team dancing in full PPE with the children, making hand and footprints and creating lasting memories. Creative arts are used as part of the end-of-life care Demelza provides, which can include families singing together to their dying child accompanied by a Music Therapist, or a creation of beautiful hand and foot castings. Demelza Health Care Assistants run Little Dots, a pre-school group, which supports parents and carers and is great fun for the children, involving inclusive songs and stories.

For more formalised creative arts therapies, families can self-refer for therapeutic support via our website, a dedicated email and our Family Support Helpline which runs Monday to Friday, 10.00am to 4.00pm. We receive referrals from hospitals, Social Workers and schools – essentially, anybody who recognises an unmet need.