ABSTRACT
This chapter explores and challenges the notions of risk and value in U.S. nursing homes. “Risk” is typically associated with the chance of something causing harm (e.g. the risk of falling after a stroke) rather than with other meanings linked to daring and adventure; to value something means to prefer one state over another. Nursing homes—or what Goffman referred to as “total institutions” charged with keeping residents safe while tending to their medical needs—are typically sites that value control and safety over risk, measurable health outcomes over personal experiences. However, some risks, such as those found in the participatory arts, are important to the full experience of being human and to the goals of person-centered care. Using a large-scale participatory arts project called “I Won’t Grow Up” as an illustrative case example, we explore how professional artists, volunteers, nursing home staff, and residents formed communities of care based on the joint experience of risk. This community and risks were forged through a practice we call “transformative creativity.” Overall, transformative creativity and the risk it provides can bring new and important value and, subsequently meaning, to the lives of nursing home residents, staff, and community members.
