How did a group of higher education applied theatre placement students learn to connect with patients living with dementia, in an acute hospital setting, during a global pandemic? How did they navigate the liminal spaces of inhabiting a virtual space while striving for real-life presence and an equality of learning and knowledge exchange?

In this book, authors and project leaders Dr Nicola Abraham PhD and Ma. Victoria Ruddock BSN present narratives and anecdotal examples of how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the learning of these placement students and how they adapted the learning expectations of the project in order to account for the liminality of combining virtual and in-person space inhabitation.

Through stories and reflections from the project the authors explore the meaning of a pedagogy of reciprocity and ways of navigating uncertainty. They discuss the essential need for horizontal team structures to enhance learning experiences and consider the uses of transmedia communication tools.

Learning objectives
Introduction
1: Acute ambitions to be yourself (I)
Assignment suggestion: Transmedia facilitation and creative practice
2: Playful ageing (us)
Assignment suggestion: Horizonal teamwork task
3: Reciprocity and uncertainty (we)
Assignment suggestion: Reciprocity and improvisation
Assignment suggestion: Responding to uncertainty
Conclusion
Recommended further reading

Nicola Abraham PhD is an Applied Theatre practitioner and academic. Most recently, she is a lecturer at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London. While seconded to the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, she co-designed a Student Knowledge Exchange set of projects alongside clinical staff from the Dementia Care Team at Imperial.

Ma. Victoria Ruddock BSN is a Healthcare Assistant in the Dementia Care Team at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. She is the project co-lead who has co-hosted the Student Knowledge Exchange project with Nicola.