Testing Situations is a public engagement project that inhabits, adapts and reflects on cognitive testing methods and artistic experimentation. The purpose of these screenings, workshops and events is to explore how it feels to be tested, whilst also considering the possibilities for artistic and expressive activities as alternative routes for assessment and diagnosis.

 

Testing Situations is funded by a Public Engagement Grant awarded by the Wellcome Trust. We are also working alongside the RDS Impact Study - a 5-year research project investigating the impact of Rare Dementia Support (RDS) group services for individuals living with, or affected by, rare dementias.

 

Contributions made by participants in the project are anonymous, however there will be multiple forms of record produced:

• We will be collecting diversity and monitoring information in order to assess the impact of our events. These forms will be hugely helpful for evaluation of the project.

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• We would like to document the events through photography. If you do not want to be included in this documentation, please talk to a member of the project team.

 

• We would like to record some conversations and discussions with an audio recorder. These recordings are made to help the project team evaluate the project. The recordings will not be made public although anonymous, transcribed quotations from participants may be used to communicate key learning outputs to the general public and funders.

 

• Participants in workshops will be asked to produce drawings and other creative outputs. These creative outputs will remain anonymous but may be presented as a whole to the general public in the form of exhibitions and public displays. If participants do not want their creative outputs to be displayed, please seal them in the envelope provided at the end of the session.

 

• Information, artistic outputs and data collected as part of the project will be securely stored and archived and may be used to develop further research in this area. Participants will be issued with a card containing a reference number and contact details for the project. You may withdraw your contributions at a later date by quoting this reference.

 

Participants in these activities are not being assessed and there are no right or wrong answers. Participation is not mandatory, and you are free to withdraw from the activities at any time. The activities are being trialled and developed and we welcome feedback to improve the project. We want to critically engage with the experience of testing, but we also want to have fun, so rule-breaking and adaptation is encouraged!