Jill Fraser<\/a>, a former St Thomas\u2019 nurse and the charity\u2019s founder and chief executive, he recognised that Fraser\u2019s concept of \u201ccreative thoughtfulness\u201d was CLANGERS brought to life. Both, he says, place human connection at their centre.<\/p>\nOf the actions in his acronym, \u201cthe single most important one is connect,\u201d Hammond says. Connection, Hammond points out, is backed by the longest-running health study in the world. The study, by Harvard University, found friendships to be the strongest predictor of long-term wellbeing. Social prescribing taps into that, Hammond argues, by using community assets such as hairdressers, musicians, craft volunteers, and interactions with schoolchildren as a \u201cTrojan horse\u201d for human connection. <\/p>\n
What stands out, Fraser says, is the moment the room changes \u2014 when music, craft or shared memories tip into conversation. \u201cWhat I like most is that they are now chatting,\u201d she says. \u201cThe music has forced them to focus and have a conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kissing it Better specialises in enlivening care settings using imaginative projects. The charity also encourages young people to volunteer their talents by organising events such as pandemic car park concerts, fashion shows, and arts and crafts sessions which bring together children and the elderly.<\/p>\n
\u201cJill just finds a way of going under the radar and forming these constructive relationships in an NHS that is falling to pieces and a care sector that hasn\u2019t got enough staff,\u201d Hammond says. \u201cBut to prioritise friendship and kindness and connection, particularly in troubled times, I think is a genius idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hammond says it also confronts prejudices about older people, especially those living with dementia. He recalls watching as elderly people told children stories about surviving polio in an iron lung, or about wartime postings. \u201cIt is extraordinary what comes out,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou play something like Scrabble and a resident is brilliant, he knows all the two-letter words. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou find a way of unlocking a memory from 30,40 years ago which could be through music, through Lego or play and you\u2019re thinking this chap was just sitting silently in the corner of the care home saying nothing and suddenly he\u2019s talking.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Music can bring joy and unlock memories<\/p>\n
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE<\/p>\n
Hammond recently witnessed this in his own family when his 89-year-old mother spent time in a care home for rehabilitation after breaking a hip. \u201cShe said, \u2018I can\u2019t talk to people with dementia,\u2019\u201d he recalled. When he took her to lunch, she found herself opposite a woman called Jill, a former medical secretary whose husband had been in the RAF. They talked about all the places they had been. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe next day the same woman looked at Mum and goes, \u2018I know you, don\u2019t I?\u2019 So Mum starts the conversation again and they go and have another really meaningful conversation. You just needed to kick-start it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kissing it Better is one of the three charities supported by this year\u2019s Christmas appeal<\/p>\n
Kissing it Better also compiles a local \u201cwhat\u2019s on\u201d calendar, a guide to community activities designed to support care homes and isolated older people. Staff say that many of the available activities are difficult to find, especially for people who struggle with technology, and demand for printed copies is rising.<\/p>\n
For Hammond, who writes regularly about failures in the health system, Kissing it Better offers something less tangible, but just as important. \u201cIt restores your faith in humanity,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Find out more about the Christmas appeal and donate by calling 0151 286 1594 or by clicking the button below:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At a care home in a quiet part of north London, residents are debating whether Bob Crosby\u2019s When…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,111,139,69,437],"class_list":{"0":"post-164914","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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