Margaret River artist Christopher Young unveils first phase of The Careful Project with Edith Cowan University

An arts project which arose out of the pandemic and aims to help lessen the disconnect for elderly people in aged care has reached a crucial milestone. The Careful Project, developed by Margaret River artist Christopher Young, is a collaborative project designed to become a virtual reality experience. The first phase of the project, which started in 2020, was recently completed with a trial of the materials now underway in a local aged-care home under Young’s watchful eye and researchers from Edith Cowan University. Young said the project started while undertaking photographic work inside local aged-care homes, where he also interviewed guests, visitors and workers. That experience later blossomed into The Careful Project, which aimed to address the very pandemic challenges it also experienced. “It was personally moving and a quite disquieting experience,” he told the Times. “Due to COVID-19 restrictions, aged-care residents are very vulnerable, isolated and have limited experiences of the broader community. “Staff shortages and extra precautions such as masks, etc., have also had an alienating effect and can be confusing to both residents and their families. “There was a need for innovative approaches to support the wellbeing of both residents and staff,” Young said. At the same time, he noticed a lot of colleagues in the arts sector were also suffering from COVID-19 shutdowns which affected the whole industry. And so he envisaged a project bringing those two sectors together: shortening the disconnect for elderly patients while also showcasing the work of regional artists. “I was lucky enough to secure some funding from Regional Arts WA and that has allowed me to purchase some equipment, train myself in its usage, pay creatives and generate content with said creatives,” Young said. “I have also developed a guidebook for carers. “The core tenets of the project are affordability, localised content, free access and compensation for any creatives who are involved in the production of said content,” he said. “It was been a significant learning curve, but ultimately a very rewarding one, especially being able to work with some exceptional local creatives.” Among those featured were local musicians filmed at the Margaret River Community Resource Centre and dance choreographer Adelina Larsson who performed two experimental pieces at Rosa Brook Hall. Their performances were captured and rendered for a trial virtual-reality experience made available now for the first time in a pilot of The Careful Project in Busselton. Young said ECU was monitoring the outcomes as part of its linked research into the effects of COVID-19 on the sector. A more formal launch of the project was anticipated on August 5, but the materials were open to the public via Young’s website zebra-factory.com/careful. Young said he hoped long-term the material and the teaching guide for workers would be more widely employed in the aged-care sector.