How Are You Feeling?

A poetry-writing project exploring the feelings evoked through having/recovering from a stroke in order to shape positive rehabilitative narratives with stroke survivors. Material for this project will be gathered through talking to stroke survivors at three local stroke clubs. The project will provide the opportunity for participants to talk about their stroke in non-medical terms, in a way that promotes their social and community inclusion, and that is sociable, encouraging the use of speech and interactivity as well as stimulating memory and language skills. Their words will then be turned into poems (by Kate Tym), which will form the basis of a performance and pamphlet both of which will be fed-back to the stroke groups.  

What the project hopes to achieve

In terms of the stroke survivors and stroke clubs this project will provide a something new and stimulating to focus on. It will provide a useful emotional outlet through contact with a non-clinical person and a platform for the expression of an individual’s thoughts, hopes and feelings. The additional benefit of this is that it also provides mechanism for this information to be fed-back into the statutory and voluntary healthcare and higher education systems. Moreover, students and clinical, educational and volunteer staff will benefit from increased awareness, and experience, to the clear value of arts-based approaches to healthcare. There will also be the broad benefit of cultural citizenship and new links being forged between the university and the wider community. 

Who the project will work with

The project will involve a local performance poet (Kate Tym), three stroke clubs (Brighton, Hove and Hastings) - volunteer staff and attendees, University Staff (Dr Alec Grant, Debbie Hatfield and Kay Aranda), and student volunteers.

How the project links to the idea of neighbourliness

Stroke clubs are a community based initiative and rely on volunteers for their existence. They have expressed a willingness to take part in this project and are interested in opening their doors and sharing what they do with staff and volunteers from the university. They are at the heart of continuing care for stroke survivors. As this is a non-medical project and focuses on emotional well-being, it very much connects to the idea of neighbourliness and caring for others who are less fortunate within our community. In the future, we feel that this project will impact on good neighbourliness, positive relationships with the local communities, volunteering, and with local and academic understandings of the experiences and needs of stroke sufferers. 

Project Partners

Kate Tym (Performance Poet)

 Ann Jenkins (Four Deans Stroke Club)

Mrs D Judge  (Hastings Stroke Club (SARAH)) 

Janet Seymour (Friends of Hove and Portslade Stroke Club)

Dr Alec Grant (School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Brighton)

Debbie Hatfield (School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Brighton)

Kay Aranda (School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Brighton)