PP04.007 ‘If I were a tree’ – engaging the community in ACP outreach through art

Abstract

BackgroundNationally, there are efforts to upstream Advance care planning (ACP) conversation in community through publicity and awareness events. However, there is a need to move beyond raising awareness to encourage call to action in completing one's ACP. This paper showcases an ACP art workshop created by Singapore General Hospital (SGH) ACP Team to engage community residents to learn and complete their ACP.MethodsThe use of artistic mediums to generate individual's self-awareness and expressions is well-documented in international literature. Therefore, the SGH ACP team, in collaboration with an art-therapist, co-designed an experiential art-based ACP workshop - ‘If I were a Tree', to engage community residents on ACP through non-threatening and therapeutic activities. Thereafter, participants are encouraged to complete their ACP. Key components of the workshop include introduction to ACP, artwork activity to generate reflection, group discussion to encourage open conversation, and completing one's ACP. This two-hour workshop is led by two trainers for 20 participants minimally and can be conducted in-person or online. Post-workshop surveys were administered to examine usefulness and consider areas for improvement.ResultsSince 2019, SGH had organised eight in-person and four online workshops to 407 participants. Through which, 56 participants indicated interest to complete ACP;13 has completed ACP while the rest deferred due to Covid-19. Total 216 post-workshop surveys were collected. 95% of the respondents shared that the experiential art workshop helped them reflect about living well, while 97% indicated that it is important to talk about ACP.ConclusionsThe workshop has shown promising results in promoting one's reflection, expression and ACP completion. Online workshop is also effective in engaging participants who are home-bound or felt apprehensive in group activities during COVID-19. Moving forward, the team aims to develop train-the-trainer workshops for community service providers and volunteers to expand the reach of the workshop.