On Tuesday 5^th November we held our latest Project Collective Art Session in Bluecoat.  People came along and designed a Hospital Gown with pictures and words about what is important to them, what they like and dislike and what it is important about us that other people need to know.  

Lewis, Tom and Martin introduced the day and explained to everyone about why we are doing this,  the designs we make are going to be used to design a hospital gown with everything that is important to people and shared with health professionals. 

We explained about Diagnostic Overshadowing – this is where people’s symptoms are put down to their condition and not as an indicator of something else.  This happens to people with learning disabilities a lot and people have died because of not being listened to.  Lewis, Tom and Martin also talked about “reasonable adjustments” or helpful changes - things that help each of us – everyone is different. 

Blue Room had us working in black and white with graphite, chunky markers, ink printing and we all thought about what was important to us. 

Some people stood at the front and talked about their design and shared what was important to them.  It was really interesting to find out what was important to people. 

A big thank you to Christine from Options for leading Project Collective and all of the members of Project Collective who are working hard to make a difference. 

Christine said “Art has made a huge impact on supporting people with learning disabilities learn about their health and health inequalities. Sometimes it can be difficult to talk about these issues with people, but making it clear that each person is an individual and valued is a simple way to support people to receive the same health care as anyone else."