Connecting through creativity
Our story
Go With The Flow - Connecting through creativity was founded by Alan Boulter in summer of 2024.
On a mission to bring the principles and techniques of improvisation to those caring for individuals living with dementia and cognitive impairment.
In 2023 after working as a stage manager for over 20 years across the UK and Europe on various productions such as Disney’s The Lion King, Jersey Boys and Blood Brothers, Alan decided he wanted to change careers into a more rewarding and personally satisfying role in the care sector.
In October 2023 Alan started working as a health care assistant at the Old Vicarage Care Home in Oxfordshire and then went on to complete the dementia champion training with the university of Worcester in May 2024.
As part of the dementia champion training course, Alan was given the task of creating a project that would improve the lives of those living with dementia within his care home and those further afield.
Alan wanted to create a project that combined the skills that he had learnt within his previous profession with his new love of person centred dementia care.
After six months of hard work brainstorming and researching person centred dementia care within the UK, Go With The Flow - Connecting through creativity was born.
While researching the use of improvisation training within the healthcare sector in the UK, Alan made a very disappointing discovery:
Although training in the principles and techniques of improvisation has gained popularity since the late 1990s, especially in organisations such as the NHS in their training of doctors and GPs, it became obvious that health care professionals and non-health care professionals within dementia care were being denied the opportunity to explore and learn this important tool. The use of improvisation training within dementia care in care homes is pretty much non existent.
After completing his care certificate in January 2024, Alan soon realised that the 15 care standards failed to even touch on the subject of the skills needed to communicate with those living with dementia and cognitive impairment.
Thinking creatively and outside of the box is not a skill that everyone possess and therefore it is more important than ever that those caring for individuals living with dementia in care homes across the UK and those caring for friends/relatives at home are given the chance to learn the principles and techniques of improvisation.
By creating this workshop, we hope to slowly change the way that those caring for individuals living with dementia and cognitive impairment are trained and supported.