Journal of Applied Arts & Health - Volume 11, Issue 3, 2020

This article shares research findings for an Arts and Humanities Research Council project called The Birth Project (grant ref. AH/K003364/1). The Birth Project has been particularly interested to explore women’s personal experience of birth and the transition to motherhood using the arts, within a participatory arts framework. It ran experiential art-based groups for mothers and a further group for birthing professionals, each over a twelve-week period to solicit in-depth qualitative data. An innovative aspect of this endeavour has been the use of film as research data, as a means of answering the research questions (through selective editing) and as the primary mode of dissemination of the research results. Results elaborated and summarized here explore the ways women and birthing professionals found the intervention useful. The project analyses the distinctive contribution of the arts and concludes that arts engagement can play a vital role in both antenatal and postnatal care.

It is now widely argued that arts and cultural activities play a significant role in maintaining health and well-being, particularly in later life. At the same time, there are mutual benefits gained by older and younger people who participate in what scholars and cultural practitioners are beginning to call ‘intergenerational shared space’. Drawing on semi-structured interviews carried out with members and organizers of the Ages and Stages theatre group in Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom, this article examines the role of community theatre as an arts practice that facilitates intergenerational relationships. The findings point to a need for a deeper integration of arts and cultural practice, intergenerational practice and urban regeneration schemes.

This article reports on a project that aimed to pilot a collaborative, patient-led approach to comics creation by developing an artistic process that allows people living with dementia to communicate their experiences and express their opinions. People living with dementia are rarely given the opportunity of speaking for themselves in the media; someone else usually speaks on their behalf, for example family or carers. In the novel approach to comics creation reported here, people with early- to mid-stage dementia worked collaboratively with artists to tell their stories as a way to offer alternative perspectives, and help overcome the stigma associated with dementia.

This article reports on an investigation of the effects of ‘visual arts’-based programmes on subjective well-being (SWB) outcomes for adults with mental health conditions. In a systematic review, electronic databases were searched for articles published from January 2007 to April 2017. Grey literature completed from January 2014 to April 2017 was also considered. Six published articles of mostly moderate quality and six evaluation reports (grey literature) covering a wide range of visual arts practice, population groups and settings were included. Key themes emerged connected to the concept of ‘bonding’, sense of belonging, appreciation of self-identity and the confidence that engagement in visual arts can facilitate. The overall conclusion supports that visual arts have the potential to enhance the SWB of adults with mental health conditions. The evidence is relatively limited in terms of scope and quality – increased funding across sectors should be secured to support more extensive and long-term research.

For military veterans who are integrating into civilian community settings after military service, community engagement often involves the negotiation of post-injury needs, the consideration of new roles within the family and community social structures and the transition from military to civilian life. Community-based music programmes can provide opportunities to explore new social relationships with family, friends and community members and reinforce a sense of well-being as well as inform facilitators about the different learning and health needs, particularly those leading to social isolation, of veterans and their families that may affect adherence and retention during the workshop series. This article examines the impact of participating in community-based guitar workshops using ethnographic observation, surveys and interviews with veteran participants. Longitudinal ethnographic information offers valuable insight to plan long-term arts engagement as veterans and their families transition to new communities and continue to utilize the arts as a way to provide positive peer-to-peer support.

Review of: Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Anthropocene: A Posthuman Inquiry, Jamie Mcphie (2019)

Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 316 pp.,

ISBN 978-9-81133-325-5, p/bk, €72.79, ISBN 978-9-81133-326-2, e-book, €58.84

Review of: Dancing with Parkinson’s, Sara Houston (2019)

Bristol: Intellect, 203 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-78938-120-7, p/bk, £30

Review of: The Philosophy of Expressive Arts Therapy: Poiesis and the Therapeutic Imagination, Stephen K. Levine (2019)

London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 176 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-78775-005-0, p/bk, £22.99