Moving Care

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

Building on these positive experiences, the project “Moving Care” aims to develop a long-term 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 conducting a feasibility study through the end of 2026. The study explores developmental potential for fostering participation in long-term care and formulates recommendations for effective cultural work in care settings.

At the heart of the study lies the project “Out of the Home, Into the Theatre”, distinguished by its approach of not only creating cultural offerings within care facilities but also enabling cultural participation in public spaces –specifically, in the theatres themselves. The study gathers the knowledge of the participating facilities, residents, cultural practitioners, and external experts, bringing together the perspectives of professionals from both theatre and care.

The goal of the study is to consolidate this knowledge into a publicly accessible guide and to issue concrete recommendations for the broader implementation of cultural participation projects in long-term care facilities. Aimed at practitioners, stakeholders, and all those engaged or interested in culture and care, the guide seeks to support active and fulfilling lives in older age. Ultimately, it is intended to ensure that people in need of care can access cultural offerings – and truly make their way “out of the home and into the theatre.”