Grant Proposal for a Pilot Art Education Program for Room-Bound elders at Hillsdale manor Convalescent Hospital

The project proposed is to establish an art education program for room-bound elders at Hillsdale Manor Convalescent Hospital in San Mateo, California. The program will be of one year\u27s duration upon receipt of the requested funding of $7,228.00. Currently, twelve long term care facilities in San Mateo county receive group art instruction through San Mateo Adult School, yet none of these facilities has a program in place for elders requiring bed-side/individualized art instruction. Hillsdale Manor is one of the many facilities in need of expanded services. Targeted by this program are people with severe handicaps requiring special individualized instruction and those whose reclusion keeps them from making use of group instruction. The proposed program will permit patients to learn the skills needed for expression through art by giving attention to their unique needs. Additionally, it will provide an avenue towards increased self-esteem, reality orientation, physical and cognitive rehabilitation The program will consist of hourly instruction, once a week, and will be made available to five resident^ One major goal of the program is the integration of these patients into the already existing group art class once skill levels are at par with other class members. It is hoped that this transition will take place within a six month timeframe. When a successful transition occurs, a new room-bound resident may enter the new program. Program evaluation will be conducted throughout the course of the program by skill mastery based on the Individualized Education Program (IEP) (see appendix 2), weekly documentation and evidence of mastery in the art process. The program will also be evaluated via the success\u27 rate of integrating patients into the group art class, and inclusion in the resident art galleries for both in-house and public showings. Additionally, hospital staff will be included in charting observations of patients, and the program manager will be assisted by consultation with a licensed art therapy professional. Dissemination of the program includes professional lectures and published articles on the program outcomes, and training of staff, volunteers and colleagues. The benefits of this program include: formal art instruction provided by a professional trained in working with the frail and handicapped elderly, a built-in future funding source when students transition to the art class that is funded by San Mateo Adult School, ease of duplication through disseminating this program to other facilities served by the Adult School and to other professionals serving this population, high public visibility in artist gallery shows, and demonstrable countering of the perception that elders are incapable of learning and being productive