Rebecka is Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol working on the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (2020-27) Sensing Spaces of Healthcare: Rethinking the NHS Hospital. The project explores the sensory past, present and future of NHS hospitals in England. The historical research is led by PI Dr Victoria Bates and Rebecka leads its creative study of the sensory experiences of hospitals in collaboration with Fresh Arts and GOSH Arts.

Rebecka’s background is in fashion textile design and psychology. Her PhD explored the significance of clothing and textiles to people with dementia, using embodied, sensory and creative research methods.

Publications

2025

  • Bates, V. L., & Fleetwood-Smith, R. E. (2025). Making Memories: Creative Research and Sensory History. Rethinking History. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642529.2025.2491159

2024

  • Bates, V. L., Bellamy, A., Casey, V., Dupays, H., Fleetwood-Smith, R. E., Jellema, P., Jones, C., Joyce, S., Raynaud, I., Schoenherr, Z., Smyth, E., Tunç, U., Waters, L., & Zacaria, L. (2024, Sept 16). Improving Sensory Environments: A Practical Guide to Person-Centred Healthcare Settings. https://hospitalsenses.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/sensing-spaces-2024-activity-guide-pages.pdf

  • Fleetwood-Smith, R. E. (2024). Making and exhibiting: reflections from the sensing spaces of healthcare exhibition. Senses and Society. https://doi.org/10.1080/17458927.2024.2391610

  • Allitt, M., Arnold-Forster, A., Barratt, H., Bates, V. L., Fleetwood-Smith, R. E., & Hickman, C. (2024). Senses and spaces of modern health/care: special issue editorial. Senses and Society, 19(3), 275-284. https://doi.org/10.1080/17458927.2024.2404720

  • Fleetwood-Smith, R. E. (2024). Sensing Maternity Spaces: Using creative approaches to explore sensory experiences within a maternity department. Design for Health. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/24735132.2024.2433840

2023

  • Bates, V. L., Fleetwood-Smith, R. E., Hickman, C., Arnold-Forster, A., Marie, A., & Harriet, B. (2023). Creative Forms: Booklets by the Hospital Senses Collective. Medical Humanities, Article medhum-2023-012638. https://doi.org/10.1136/medhum-2023-012638

  • Campbell, S., Dowlen, R., & Fleetwood-Smith, R. E. (2023). Embracing complexity within creative approaches to dementia research: ethics, reflexivity, and research practices. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 22. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069231165932

  • Dowlen, R., & Fleetwood-Smith, R. E. (2023). From symptoms to citizenship: A critical reading of the perceived value of arts and culture in a dementia context. In J. R. Fletcher, & A. Capstick (Eds.), A Critical History of Dementia Studies (1 ed., pp. 138-154). Routledge. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003290353-15

    2022

  • Fleetwood-Smith, R. E., Tischler, V., & Robson, D. (2022). Aesthetics and dementia: exploring the role of everyday aesthetics in dementia care settings. Design for Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/24735132.2022.2074207, https://doi.org/10.1080%2F24735132.2022.2074207

  • Bates, V. L., Fleetwood-Smith, R. E., & Wilson, G. (2022). Listening through lines: mark making, sound and the hospital. Wellbeing, Space & Society, 3, Article 100099. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wss.2022.100099


    2021

  • Fleetwood-Smith, R. E. (Accepted/In press). Clothing, Textiles, and Everyday Creativity in the Lives of People with Dementia. In Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Health Humanities

  • Fleetwood-Smith, R. E. (2021). Rethinking creative research methods in response to COVID-19: Creating a remote research kit. Journal of Applied Arts & Health, 12(3). https://doi.org/10.1386/jaah_00078_1

  • Fleetwood-Smith, R. E., Tischler, V., & Robson, D. (2021). Using creative, sensory and embodied research methods when working with people with dementia: A method story. Arts and Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/17533015.2021.1974064

2020

  • Fleetwood-Smith, R. (2020). Exploring the Significance of Clothing to People with Dementia using Sensory Ethnography, PhD Thesis, UWL repository

  • Fleetwood-Smith, R. (2020). Fashion and Textiles. In P. Crawford, B. Brown, & A. Charise (Eds.), The Routledge companion to health humanities Routledge.

    2019

  • Fleetwood-Smith, R. E., Hefferon, K., & Mair, C. (2019). ‘It’s like... it’s me’: Exploring the lived experience of clothing attachment during wear. International Journal of Fashion Studies. https://doi.org/10.1386/infs.6.1.41_1