Tayside Healthcare Arts Trust (THAT)

THAT logo

Tayside Healthcare Arts Trust (THAT) was set up in 2002 to develop the role of the arts in healthcare across the area of NHS Tayside. THAT develops and delivers Creative Engagement Projects and responds to enquiries which have clear Arts and Healthcare content.

THAT aims to:

  • benefit, through participation in the arts, the health and wellbeing of individuals with health conditions, in hospitals and in the community.
  • promote quality health and social care environments.
  • research and promote the development of arts in health and social care.

THAT continues to employ Artists to:

  • directly engage with patients/participants through a wide variety of art mediums in a variety of contexts.
  • carry out site specific commissions.
  • provide input to Healthcare Environments.
     

‘Creative at a Distance’ - THAT’s response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

From mid-March and in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all THAT and ST/ART programmes were suspended or cancelled and the THAT Office closed with staff then working from home on laptops with limited resources.

'Creative at a Distance’ was Tayside Healthcare Arts Trust’s immediate response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and the UK wide lockdown at the end of March 2020.

At the start of April we commissioned the first two online Creative Engagement programmes for our Long Term Condition participants. Sharing Photographs, led by Artist/Photographer David P Scott, and Writing From Home, led by Author/Teacher Zoe Venditozzi, were both designed as eight weekly email challenges that took both groups of participants on a progressive development of their creative understanding of the media and their abilities.

The success of these programmes led to an online gallery for a selection of the photographs https://davidpscott.com/sharingphotographs and a printed Zine. The Zine combines the work of both programmes, with selected writings and photographs complementing each other and providing insight into lives under lockdown. A full digital copy of the Zine is available by clicking the link at the bottom of the page.

Funding from NHS Tayside Community Innovation Fund supported the production of the Zine and a planned exhibition of work in 2021.
Photos of THAT's Creative at a Distance Zine

Photos of THAT's Creative at a Distance Zine

THAT has also delivered at home art packs for two different ST/ART programmes and developed a video conferencing programme model for singing. We continue to explore other distanced approaches responding to participants' preferences and technology levels.

THAT will continue to ensure that Creative Engagement opportunities are still available to our participants. We will secure funding, provide the leadership, project management, and evaluation of the programmes and will continue to commission our professional artists to design and deliver this valuable contribution to people’s health and wellbeing.
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NHS Tayside Logo White
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

1926 - 2022