Where I Belong

When providing care to people with disabilities, building trust, and a connection is crucial to giving people the support they need to thrive.

Together with the Sonoran Center, AmeriCorps and Tucson Parks and Recreation, ArtWorks is helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities express themselves in a way that bridges gaps with their caregivers.

The project is called Exploring and Identifying Communities Where I Belong: Arts-Based, Person-Centered Book Making Workshop. It is led by ArtWorks Director Dr. Yumi Shirai and UArizona art student Marissa Robles.

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities living in a group or developmental home work with their caregivers to create a picture book about themselves, their communities and connections, interests and goals, and their support needs.  

The important part is the member is the author, owner, and user of this book,” says Dr. Shirai. “They’re able to talk about themselves and their needs so they can continue to have a connection to their community…without relying heavily on their main caregiver.”

Shirai and Robles are still developing the full structure of the book, which will be divided into eight sections called modules.

Module one is about community, what it is, how to identify it, and an individual’s role in it. Module two is about strengths and challenges and is done in the form of checklists.

“It’s based on different categories like personal hygiene, cooking — stuff you might need help with,” Robles says. “The checklist goes into ‘I don't need help, I need a little help, or I need a lot of help.’”

Written instructions about how someone can help complete the task comes at the end of the checklist.

“Once we establish the modules, AmeriCorps members can go and implement them with Tucson Parks and Rec or other programs easily, so we can extend our reach. I’m hoping that we can continue this,” Dr. Shirai says.

The plan is to teach AmeriCorps members how to facilitate book-making sessions so that they can help people with I/DD around the state create scrapbooks of their very own.

The books serve as a quick and easy way to connect with caregivers, especially new or temporary caregivers. This helps ensure the quality of care does not diminish when the primary caregiver is on vacation or unexpectedly unavailable.

“If you're having a new respite worker come in or you’re having someone else come in to help with your care, being able to have that recipient feel comfortable explaining who they are and what their needs are is really important for the new incoming staff,” Robles says.

Tucson Parks and Recreation is also providing their expertise to this project. For example, they are helping to adapt the curriculum so they’re easily understandable. They’re also developing supplemental learning materials, like worksheets, to help participants get a full grasp of the project.

Participants will keep the book after the project is complete. Robles and Dr. Shirai hope the books can be useful tools for participants to use for years to come.

“The person-centered planning philosophy is a great strategy to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities, but without dedicated time for this activity, nothing can happen,” Dr. Shirai says. “We need to have dedicated personnel time to support this project and partners to integrate these activities in their work.”

SEED GRANT PROVIDES ADDITIONAL SUPPORT
Dr. Shirai and the Sonoran Center were recently awarded the 2022 Healthy Aging Seed Grant from the University of Arizona Innovations in Healthy Aging. The grant will serve as an extension for the project. With this funding, Dr. Shirai will partner with the Opportunity Tree, a community agency partner, to further develop the modules and training materials, and implement and evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the program. Additionally, Dr. Gubner from the University of Arizona College of Fine Arts will help integrate digital stories to expand the program's reach and representation.