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living a life

We decided to use mobile interviews with My own place.
all participants – they were equally 1 Otis Robinson’s Great spot next
productive with highly articulate people. journey to the market
We gave people cameras; they took I was born in
their own photographs or we took them 1956 at 24 Ocean
on their behalf. The subjects included View, Kingston,
places they had lived, schools, Jamaica 1 5
playgrounds, friends’ and neighbours’ I came to to 6
homes, and learning disability services. join my mum and
We planned the interviews once we dad in 1965
had enough information about key places 6
in a person’s life. Familiar buildings and 2
places provided context to support 2001 – present
Branbury Court
remembering. Sharing such detailed local 2
knowledge would not have been possible 1965 Coleman House, 4
I shared a flat
in a traditional, static interview. As we did Auriga Mews 3 here with my friends.
I remember Sunday
more interviews, people became more off the high street dinners, holidays and We had very nice
confident in taking charge by giving We lived here during making friends neighbours
directions, pointing out and leading the 1970s. I remember
researchers to places of interest and going to Carnival
indicating what they wanted to
photograph. Eight people suggested new
places to visit and photograph.
Benito Bianchi said: “Go this way, yeah,
go down there … my gardening scheme
and my old house.” 3 4 5
Smith took a researcher by hand, led us First floor flat, 1980-1987 1987-2001
across the road and into a park. We stood Churchill Walk Arnold House Greenfield Gardens
by the football pitch and he smiled. His Otis Robinson’s life journey map. He is played by an actor and his name and places have been changed
brothers later explained this was where to protect confidentiality. The map is illustrative; see the full version at www.cl-initiatives.co.uk
they played football together as children.
Evaluation hundreds of people continue to be moved
We held focus groups with storytellers away from familiar areas, they make an
and three staff teams to evaluate the use invaluable contribution to understanding
of the maps. Storytellers said: what we need to do to stop this.
Mobile interviews and life journey maps
“We have all lost parts of our past” support the recording and sharing of life
“It’s good to have everything in one story information. Without a recorded life
place and in the right order.” story, the extent of people’s networks and
“The maps helped me talk about the attachment to the local area are at risk of
moves I’ve had.” remaining hidden, leaving people more
“The map helped me to tell people vulnerable to being moved away.
Being mobile meant people could show the about myself and my family” Life journey maps and the stories in
way and point important places out “It’s good to choose my own photos.” them are a powerful statement of local
belonging and are a way to support to
Making life journey maps Staff said: people to state their right to stay near the
After the mobile interviews, people people and places that matter most.
wanted to share their photos and stories “Case files concentrate on diagnosis, As Robinson observed: “We have all lost
onlinewebfonts.com; Darwinek/Wikimedia Commons; Google Maps
with staff. Many staff knew little local treatment and support, so we don’t part of our past … That is not right. Your
geography so found it hard to follow the know these stories.” history is what makes you who you are.
life stories people were trying to tell. “The maps and stories highlighted the It’s very good to have it here like this. It
Therefore, we developed a mapping tool. things we have in common, like losing a belongs to you.” n
Making the life maps involved choosing parent, rather than the disability.”
images and superimposing them onto “We don’t know much about people’s ● Names and places have been changed
street maps to show their journey. backgrounds. The maps helped people to protect confidentiality, and pictures
Images were loaded onto a computer tell us about this.” are posed by actors Paul Christian and
with a large screen, then people chose the “It was great to see photos from Rufaro Asuquo from the Access All Areas
images they wanted. As well as from mobile people’s pasts.” theatre company
interviews, pictures came from personal References
collections, local archives and the internet. Life story accounts from people with NHS England (2015) Building the Right Support.
The maps helped improve staff’s local learning disabilities – including those with Jarrett S (2019) The sorry failure of an
knowledge and find out more about high support needs – help us identify ambitious plan. Community Living. 32(3): 10-11
people’s stories, and supported people to patterns of support and services in the Ledger S (2019) Stories show the way to stay
share and organise their information. lives of those who stay close to home. As home. Community Living. 32(3):12-13

www.cl-initiatives.co.uk Community Living Vol 32 No 4 | Summer 2019 17