Innovating Knowledge Exchange - Elizabeth Woolley

Today we are speaking with Elizabeth Woolley, a current student on the Drama, Applied Theatre and Education (DATE), BA course about her role within Innovating Knowledge Exchange: Student Involvement in Delivering Better Patient Experience in the NHS.

How did you get involved with this project?

I originally got involved with these projects through CollOut. CollOut is how we refer to an assignment called Collaborative Outreach at Central. It’s a term where students go and create projects with people or organisations. Students have worked with people like LGBT Manchester or local schools to create performances or work with participants.  

After getting involved through Central, I later volunteered to continue working through the summer break as work experience. Overall, I have been working on these projects since April 2021.

What made you want to get involved?

My contemporary study classes on Performing Health had a lecture given by Dr Nicola Abraham about her work with the NHS and it really intrigued me. I went away and did some research into this style of work and figured out very quickly that it played to a lot of my strengths as a facilitator and I wanted to become involved to know more about the process.

What have you been working on?

I have been facilitating online work, both within long term care or long term hospital settings and short term hospital stays. I’ve been creating a wide variety of digital work, including: videos, songs, poems, podcasts and radio dramas for the participants of the projects.

Tell us more about your process?

One element of my work was Life in Lyrics sessions. I essentially listen to lots of music together with a participant on a Zoom call and get to know them and their life story. After the call, I would go away and write a personalised song/cover song for each participant I worked with. The album cover below is for “Airforce Blue”, which tells the story of a woman and her lover meeting and dancing together, which was based on a participant named Betty’s life story. 

You created bespoke songs for participants. What does that involve?

We used an online software to edit the songs. For example, working on Airforce Blue included layering the vocal tracks, harmonies and backing track, with the timings for where the different parts of a song land within the backing track layout. Dr Nicola Abraham and I collaborated on Airforce Blue, as the backing track was complicated. We needed to work out the timings for the bridges, choruses, verses and the middle 8 to make it work. It was definitely a learning experience.

How has this project related to your studies?

The Innovating Knowledge Exchange projects are heavily based in Applied Arts/Theatre, which links to the Drama, Applied Theatre and Education (DATE), BA course, as we look at non-traditional ways of using art or theatre based activities within a variety of settings.

I started working with Nicola Abraham earlier this year as part of an assessment project. I was fortunate enough to have many incredible experiences while working alongside her. One such experience was being able to show the public some of the amazing things I had created during the CollOut project, via an online festival - The Student Knowledge Exchange Festival.

Can you tell us more about the Student Knowledge Exchange Festival?

The Student Knowledge Exchange Festival took place over the final week of term back in June 2021. I co-facilitated example workshops with the public, showing and teaching them how the online, person centred, reciprocal style of work I had been doing, functioned and the best practice styles for working with older people. The responses we got to our work were incredible and made me truly appreciate how life changing this way of working can be and the many potentials it holds for care homes, the NHS and our participants.

What has surprised you most about your experience?

Some of the things participants have challenged me to make have been surprising - but so much fun to do. The practicalities of working within a hospital setting have surprised me at times too - you really have to be adaptable, as things can change, but it’s part of the joy of this style of work!

How did you find out about Central and decide to study with us?

I found out about Central through The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama’s Young Actors Studio (YAS). I found out about the projects through CollOut and social media posts.

What are you planning to do after graduation?

I’m planning on going into Applied Arts in Health - mainly within hospital or care related settings - as I have a keen interest in this area of work due to my time spent on the Innovating Knowledge Exchange projects.

Learn more about Beth’s projects and work by following her on Instagram @bethw00lley and on Twitter @b3thw00lley.