Redesigning PPE: Enhancing the comfort and safety of healthcare workers wearing isolation gowns to treat patients with COVID-19

Case Study During the pandemic surveys of nursing staff highlighted issues relating to the poor comfort, fit and durability of oversized, isolation gowns. The rudimentary design and fabrication of this personal protective equipment (PPE) was the result of a crisis-managed situation whereby the PPE industry, including new companies, adopted an unsustainable, ‘non-circular’ approach to meet […]

Combating Social Isolation through Creative and Community Engagement: COVID and beyond (Community COVID)

About the project The focus of this project has been on people experiencing lockdown, self-isolation, and shielding. It has assessed the effects for health and wellbeing of arts and creative activities during this time. In particular, research has explored the impact of engagement on those who are vulnerable as a result of economic, physical, psychological […]

Outside the Box: Open-Air Performance as a Pandemic Response

Case Study Theatre and performance artists innovated in their open-air practices during the pandemic, addressing the impacts upon the cultural sector and social isolation caused by lockdowns, alongside the ongoing protracted crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. Spanning theatre and management studies, Outside the Box: Open Air Performance as a Pandemic Response worked with […]

Documentation of Life during COVID-19: Understanding (Lack of) Touch from a Deafblind Perspective

Case Study Covid-19 has acutely heightened our awareness of, and need for touch, simply because we were told not to touch. For deafblind communities, who rely on haptic experiences to navigate the world, the fear of touch and intimacy in a post-Covid-19 society has imposed new challenges and further increased social isolation. It has simultaneously […]

Culture Box: Remote and Digital Delivery of Arts and Creative Activities to Improve the Wellbeing of People with Dementia in Care Homes

Case Study People living with dementia in care homes have been severely negatively impacted during the pandemic with those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups disproportionately affected. High rates of mortality, social isolation, loneliness and responsive behaviours (such as restlessness, agitation and wandering) increased as visits from loved ones, artists and creative practitioners […]

COVID-19 CARE: Culture and the Arts, from Restriction to Enhancement: Protecting Mental Health in the Liverpool City Region

Case Study What was the cost to public mental health of restricted access to arts and culture during the Covid-19 pandemic? How successful were alternative (online or digital) modes of arts and cultural provision in reaching and communicating with established or new audiences? This interdisciplinary study collaborated with 15 arts and cultural organisations and 3 […]

Case Studies

Combatting Gendered, Sexual and Online Harms and Risks During the COVID-19 Pandemic Developing Resources for Young People, Parents and Schools Professor Kaitlynn Mendes(University of Leicester) COVID-19 CARE Culture and the Arts, from Restriction to Enhancement: Protecting Mental Health in the Liverpool City Region Professor Josie Billington(University of Liverpool) Cultural Translation and Interpreting of COVID-19 Risks […]

Distanced Arts: Investigating the design, delivery, and impacts of Entelechy Arts’ Staying Connected Programme

About the project Led by a research team at Queen Mary University London and Entelechy Arts, this research explored how a programme of remotely provided arts and creative activities provided through Entelechy Arts’ Staying Connected programme might mitigate the negative health and wellbeing impacts of the pandemic for older people. Programmes were co-created with participants. […]

Online access to cultural activities for people living with brain injury

About the project The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns magnified the challenges that individuals with ABI experienced, with increased isolation and loneliness due to shutdown of services as well as increased risk of anxiety and depression. Brain Waves is a 12-week online performance arts programme developed for people with acquired brain injury (ABI) during the COVID-19 […]

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Like a new beginning: a message of hope, inspiration and community from the Pandemic and Beyond Lived Experience Panel

Dr Karen Gray records the reflections of the Lived Experience Panel members, who have been helping shape Pandemic & Beyond’s approach to research and public engagement. They discuss contributing to ongoing, urgent research initiatives and what lies ahead for creative research. From its earliest moments, the Pandemic & Beyond team has benefitted from the skills […]