Journal of Applied Arts & Health - Volume 1, Issue 2, 2010

As the field of arts in health grows in scale and diversity, it needs to affirm a set of shared principles and describe what constitutes best practice. This article recounts the production of guidelines for good practice in participatory arts in health care, based on consultations with practitioners in the arts and health sectors in Ireland in 20082009. It considers why it was difficult and inappropriate to formalize a code of practice but explains how guidelines for good practice within an ethical framework were collectively agreed. It argues that the arts in health practitioner is not the individual artist but rather a partnership between diverse professional interests with common principles and values that govern engagement with participants and inform the planning, delivery and evaluation of the practice. It considers issues of quality and risk and proposes that benchmarking best practice should be the next step.

In this article, we propose new structural approaches to facilitating applied theatre practice, specifically in theatre forms developed to address oppression. The intention of these activities is to highlight the power of choice in a given oppressive situation to help participants find practical ways of addressing such issues. One way the practice can do this is by inviting participants to reveal their personal oppressions. Without careful preparation, participants can find themselves participating in emotionally-charged situations. We argue that applied theatre practitioners can adapt the concept of informed consent to ensure participants have a clear understanding of the work. Informed consent is the practice of clearly stating and agreeing upon the work of therapy before entering into it. In this article, we present a practical model for theatre practitioners to add informed consent to their practice so as to enhance the process for both participants and practitioners.

The Silver Song Club Project provides an opportunity for older people to come together regularly and participate in a programme of singing and music making, and is based on the principle that singing and music have the potential to benefit health and well-being. An evaluation was undertaken to investigate the development of the Silver Song Club Project, and to explore the experiences and benefits gained by participants. A total of 369 participants (in 26 song clubs across the south east) completed a short questionnaire to provide information on personal characteristics, previous musical experience, anticipation and enjoyment of the clubs and perceived benefits. It was found that those attending enjoy a positive experience; with two-thirds of those participating saying that it makes them feel better. It is argued that the sense of well-being experienced by people attending the sessions is due to the potential of singing well-known songs to act as a social catalyst, and the inherent physical and psychological characteristics of singing itself.

This article traces a case study of how participatory theatre is used to make a positive impact on the widening participation (WP) agenda for one particular university in the United Kingdom. The WP agenda is a philosophical position taken by the UK government to restructure access to higher education and is underpinned by notions of equality and diversity to improve social health and national well-being. The project titled H.E. for me ? is a joint venue between academic staff and students on a BA (Hons) Acting degree programme and several external partners. H.E. for me ? aims to provide sixth formers with helpful information and insights into life at university. This innovative approach to dealing with WP uses the well-established convention of forum theatre in fulfilling objectives which give young people the opportunity to explore and interrogate HE related issues. Accounts of the lead in period and the creative engagement phase of the project are offered, as well as the research outcomes. This article identifies the impact of, and the lessons emerging from, this pilot (intended to become an ongoing programme) and raises several pertinent issues relating to the researchability of applied theatre.

This article illuminates the experience of acting through a synthesis of concepts from therapy, arts, and philosophy. Through the lens of performance theory, the author first addresses the difference between acting in the context of formal theatrical acting and acting in the context of drama-based psychotherapy. By applying Sartrean concepts the author characterizes the experience of witnessing in the case of tangible and permanent works of art versus witnessing in the case of embodied and ephemeral performing arts. A distinction between two contrasting modes of dramatic presence, being-in-drama and being-for-drama, is provided. Drawing on Moreno (1953), Landy (1983), Boal (1995), and Bolton (1984), the author argues that these two opposing modes of dramatic presence coexist simultaneously in the experience of aesthetic-dramatic distance, conceptualized here as being-via-drama. Finally, a clinical vignette is provided to illustrate the experience of acting in drama-based psychotherapy.

The unique collaboration of fifteen years between Buz Williams, a sufferer of Parkinson's disease, his wife Debbie Green, a specialist in movement, and photographer Clare Park has produced Breaking Form, photography and text depicting living with Parkinson's. This article explores and interprets each of their viewpoints, their experience and understanding of both this chronic illness and of health.

Is it possible to find something positive about living with an illness that can, at times, be debilitating: an illness that can lead to death? This difficult and perhaps even troubling question is addressed from the perspective of an award-winning composer and writer who has been living with bipolar affective disorder for more than half of his life. Exploring the issues of creativity and how bipolar disorder has influenced such an integral part of the human experience, this article opens the door to a new level of understanding, both of the creative process and of an illness that is still accompanied by a mystique and stigma for those afflicted. Through the use of historical antecedents, the author demonstrates that mental illness does not only contribute to the creative process of one individual today, it has contributed to our cultural landscape for centuries.

Trauma, Tragedy, Therapy: The Arts and Human Suffering, Stephen K. Levine 2009 First Edition London Jessica Kingsley Publishing, 208pp. ISBN: 978-1843105121, Paperback, 18.99

Expressive Arts in Social Action: Peace-Ing Our World Together, August 1215, 2009 Hosted by Lesley University

Inspiring Transformations: Applied Arts and Health Conference, The University of Northampton, 810 September 2009