Journal of Applied Arts & Health - Volume 9, Issue 1, 2018

This article describes qualitative research undertaken to explore young people’s understanding of sex and relationships that used a scenario-driven body-mapping technique. This art-based method was designed to allow young people to think deeply about the subject and build upon each other’s ideas through the medium of decorating a life-sized human body. Although this method produced rich information the depictions of young people tended to be highly stigmatized. We further refined the method to encourage young people to empathize with the character that they created and the resultant research became the basis for the sexual health resource ‘Life Happens’.

The incidence of dementia in Singapore is increasing and strategies to care for people with dementia are necessary. Let’s Have Tea at the Museum is a pilot participatory visual art programme designed for clients at an Alzheimer’s Disease Association (ADA) Singapore day care centre. The programme, which combines reminiscence with art-making, aims at enabling participants to further explore the heritage collection at the Peranakan Museum to reawaken memories and promote personal expression. This study involved eight participants (seven females and one male) all aged 70 years and older, with early-stage or moderate-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Video recordings and journal entries were collected to study the effects of the programme on the participants. Data were analysed and interpreted using a grounded theory approach to identify general themes and facilitate focused analyses. The three themes identified in this study that support the benefits of the programme include the following: (1) fostering space for self-discovery, growth and socializing; (2) art as a resource for multi-sensorial engagement and stimulation; and (3) encouraging play and boosting morale. Further use and development of the programme is recommended as a strategy to care for and enrich the lives of people with Alzheimer’s disease.

In this article, we discuss the impact of a participatory theatre arts programme on the social, emotional and psychological well-being of older adults in San Antonio, Texas. Using a participatory, collaborative approach, we designed an outcomes evaluation for an eight-week Senior Theatre programme sponsored by The Playhouse San Antonio. Pre/post surveys, focal interviews, and participant observation were used to document participant perceptions of self-confidence and self-esteem, emotional intelligence, memory, social engagement and self-rated physical and mental health, and to assess programmatic influences on outcomes. Eleven of the twelve consistently attending students participated in the surveys, six in focal interviews, and eight in the focus group. Closed-ended survey responses were analysed using univariate and bivariate statistics. Field notes, open-ended survey responses and interview transcripts were analysed using discursive textual analysis. Older adults associated their participation in senior theatre with perceived improvements in all outcomes except memory. Results contribute to older adult programming in participatory arts, as well as applied evaluation methodologies that document the impact of creative engagement through the arts on health and well-being, and social science work on health and ageing.

Men and women diagnosed with cancer may encounter complex changes to gendered roles and expectations within the work environment, families and the community. Creative interventions using the arts could address some of these challenges using person-centred approaches that attend to gender disruptions and negotiations. To identify current research gaps and future priorities in this field, a national expert panel was assembled of seventeen professionals in cancer and gender research, supportive cancer care and artistic practice. During a two-day forum, the panel participated in a modified Delphi process involving two rounds of surveys, a breakout session and panel discussions. At the end of the forum, the panel had identified three diverse programmes of research highlighting key areas at the intersection of cancer, gender and the arts. This process showed both the need for and the promise of interdisciplinary collaborations to identify creative research solutions for gendered challenges during health crises.

Community arts festivals have a potential role in fostering social capital and population well-being. This small, exploratory study collected and analysed qualitative data from eight semi-structured interviews with festival organizers. Thematic analysis was applied to the interview transcripts. The findings suggest that festivals create bridging social capital. Festivals also stimulate self-efficacy, which facilitates participation, an emotional response and may lead to a sense of personal well-being, with a living legacy for the community. The article posits a model to articulate the suggested interrelationship between these concepts. Very little research exists on the contribution of arts festivals towards community health and well-being. This nascent research therefore adds to the body of knowledge, and suggests the importance of developing participatory activity at local arts and cultural festivals for community health and well-being.

Anxiety affects everyone, in some intensity, at some time. We report on the ‘BIG Anxiety Project’, a citizen science arts project to explore the public’s experiences and responses to anxiety, which has established a collaboration between visual artists and mental health researchers. A variety of sources of data were used for analysis: visualization and public discussion as part of the project, including from social media, surveys and live polling. Common responses were observed across the data sets, including bodily and physiological responses to anxiety, as well as differences, for example statements of severity versus symbolic expression. Such citizen science arts projects offer the opportunity to engage the public in scientific data collection as well as shaping the research agenda and forming specific research questions.

The project aimed to explore the effectiveness of drama and nursing students working collaboratively to develop communication skills based on situations nurses face working with children in palliative and end-of-life care. Interactive theatre techniques were developed in the participatory performance and embedded in Noddings’ concept of care education. Based on findings from pre and post intervention student feedback the results demonstrate and exemplify how performance can offer new ways of understanding the caring encounter. Through facilitating re-enactment of their real-life scenarios pre-registration nursing students both discussed and practiced nurse: patient interactions, reflecting on how caring and uncaring communication sounds and feels. Role-play and simulation is not new in training nursing students but the innovative aspect of this project was the way working with drama students enabled participation and reflection through elements of ‘Simultaneous Dramaturgy’ and ‘Forum Theatre’ in this paediatric palliative context.

‘Reconstructing Ourselves’ was an eighteen-month arts project that brought together a visual artist, a storyteller and a qualitative researcher. The team worked with women undergoing complex breast reconstruction and facilitated them to tell their stories through video, textiles and photography as well as directly to their doctors through narrative recordings played during their consultations. This article focuses on the narrative recordings which were the subject of the research question: Can pre-recording what patients want to say before they go into the consultation room improve the patient experience of the consultation? The article describes the methodology and key thematic findings from twenty women who played their recorded narratives directly to their doctors. The response and feedback given by all participants in this study overwhelmingly confirmed that pre-recording what patients want to say, and playing it as part of the consultation, improved the patient experience of the consultation.

Culture, Health & Wellbeing International Conference, Arts & Health South West, Bristol, 19–21 June 2017

Responding to Collective Anxiety and Building Community Resilience: 8th Annual Arts in Healthcare Conference, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA, USA, 28 April 2017

Essentials of Dance Movement Psychotherapy: International Perspectives on Theory, Research and Practice, Helen Payne (ed.) (2017) New York: Routledge, 260 pp., ISBN: 9781138200470, p/bk, $53.95

New Developments in Expressive Arts Therapy: The Play of Poiesis, Ellen Levine and Stephen K. Levine (eds) (2017) London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 330 pp., ISBN: 978 1785922473, p/bk, $34.95

Introduction to Art Therapy: Faith in the Product, 3rd ed., Bruce L. Moon (2016) Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas, 284 pp., ISBN: 978 0398077976, p/bk, $37.95