Care in Motion

In 2022, Bureau Ritter launched the initiative “Out of the Care Home, Into the Theatre.” The project gives older adults in care homes the opportunity to experience live dance and theatre performances on Berlin stages – accompanied by preparatory and follow-up sessions. With great success: the project has enjoyed exceptionally positive feedback from participating residents, care homes, and cultural practitioners alike.

Building on these positive experiences, the project “Care in Motion” aims to create a lasting model that makes cultural and social participation in later life more widely and sustainably accessible. In close collaboration with the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology, Bureau Ritter is carrying out a feasibility study until the end of 2026. The study explores how to foster participation in care homes and develops recommendations for effective cultural work in care facilities.

At the heart of the study lies the project “Out of the Care Home, Into the Theatre” – Its distinctive approach lies not only in creating cultural offerings within care homes but also in enabling cultural participation in public spaces – in the theatres themselves. The study gathers the knowledge of the participating care facilities, residents, cultural practitioners, and external experts, combining insights from both theatre and care.

The goal of the study is to consolidate this knowledge into a publicly accessible guide with practical recommendations for the broader implementation of cultural participation projects in care homes. This guide is designed for practitioners, stakeholders, and all those engaged or interested in culture and care – helping to support active and fulfilling lives in older age. Ultimately, it seeks to ensure that people in need of care can access cultural experiences – and truly make their way “out of the care home and into the theatre.”