On Friday, 15th November, I attended a Symposium for the Arts in Palliative Care with the topic of Creative Health, Care and Dying. This was held in the exhibition centre in the hospice where my daughter Rebecca died, so when I signed up for this, I was a little nervous about how I might respond to being in that space and listening to speakers talk about subjects related to dying and loss.

I was made aware of the symposium through a message sent to me by an academic group I joined, The Association for the Study of Death and Society.

The Symposium was a full day filled with talks and workshops. Talks included presentations of research into lived experience as a lead into how scientists and therapists should think about palliative care, the use of sound and performance with disabled young people transitioning into adult care, the culture of care and looking after carers in a field that is emotionally challenging, how different cultures interact differently in this space, collaborations and shared projects in arts practice and research, music therapy in children’s palliative care and closing with a talk on arts-based research into narrative meaning.

I attended a workshop on the use of drama therapy titled “A Story Awaiting Its Telling” hosted by Sally McRae. The workshop described as, “Once upon a time, in the delicate balance between life and death, a story awaited its telling. In this drama therapy workshop, we will journey through the realms of creativity, visiting themes of health, care, death and dying. Using storytelling, movement, and shared reflections we will cocreate an unrepeatable event.” (McRae, 2024) This was an interesting experience that pushed me out of my comfort zone to explore storytelling through expression.

There was a lot to learn about different forms of therapy used in palliative care, from drama to art and music therapy. It was a very interesting day. I found time to discuss the possibility of pursuing photo therapy at Queen Margaret University and will do some research into this.