Arts & Health最新文献

Background: Self-directed exercise programs empower people with stroke to engage in recovery through daily practice but often present challenges in maintaining long-term adherence. Dance can make rehabilitation exercises more engaging and help reduce the perception of efforts, due to its inherently enjoyable nature and the use of music. This project aims to identify the key considerations for developing a danced adaptation of the GRASP delivered using short video capsules to enhance upper limb motor recovery.

Methods: Using a participatory research approach, co-development meetings were conducted with researchers and occupational therapists to adapt and refine the GRASP-dance. We beta-tested the GRASP-dance with two people with stroke to refine the program. Feedback from participants and co-development meeting summaries were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis.

Results: Two main themes were derived from the co-development meetings: 1) Considerations for the transposition of the GRASP into a danced version and 2) Challenges and solutions for the development of the GRASP-dance. We adapted the GRASP into a danced version, incorporating the fundamental elements of the GRASP and key considerations at the person, the environment and the dance level. The final program includes 47 video capsules across three difficulty levels along with a weekly virtual group meeting.

Conclusions: This work emphasized the need to tailor self-directed exercise, to include a motivating artistic element, and to address key barriers to maximize stroke rehabilitation.

This poem explores the lived experience of a doctoral student who is also a father living far from his family, foregrounding the intersections of art, care, and mental health. Through arts-based reflection, the poem positions creative practice not as ornament, but as a regulatory and methodological tool for sustaining wellbeing. It argues that mental health is foundational to scholarly knowledge production, and that a PhD journey requires an embodied understanding of Art & Health in order to remain whole.

Background: There is limited knowledge of how theatre interventions have been deployed to address mental health issues in low and middle income countries (LMICs). Our aim was to examine the role of theatre as a research activity and explore the ways in which its research potential had been actualised in the literature, and examine the extent to which authors have addressed LMICs.

Methods: We undertook a scoping review informed by PRISMA guidelines, which yielded an initial capture of 1200 items, which was narrowed down to 21 papers, including some relevant interventions from Canada and the UK too.

Results: The literature demonstrates extensive experience of using theatre interventions, which used a variety of performance modalities. Theatre is used as a way of inspiring change, eliciting data from audience members and participants and as a way of disseminating public health messages or research findings.

Conclusions: We conclude with observations about areas which deserve further attention, such as critical deconstruction of expert-approved health messages, or the potential of the originating radical theatrical traditions to question patterns of power and legitimacy.

Background: The resurgence of queerphobic discourses has created narratives of social and moral crisis that frame LGBTQ+ rights as existential threats to traditional values and national identities. Such discourses perpetuate systemic discrimination, stigma, and inequitable access to, and experiences of, a range of health and social services. As professionals with a social justice mandate, social workers can support transgender and non-binary (TNB) individuals to reduce disparities in mental health, violence, and accessing affirming care amongst other areas. Despite the growing visibility of TNB communities, limited research exists on how social workers engage with these identities in practice. This study explores social workers' views on the rights and acceptance of TNB individuals in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Methods: An anonymous online qualitative survey (September - December 2023) captured responses from 120 social workers. Data were analysed inductively and presented using the "poemish" method, whereby participant responses were shaped into haiku. Thirty-seven haiku were developed and grouped into ten haiku sequences, reflecting a spectrum of perspectives.

Results: 10 haiku sequences were chosen to represent recurring significant ideas, or motifs, that included beliefs in gender-affirming care as a human right, fears of speaking openly, binary thinking, reliance on neutrality despite holding anti-TNB views, and the need for gender-specific training.

Conclusions: Ethical, inclusive care requires structural commitments across social work education, accreditation, and workplace training. Our findings highlight the urgent need for consistent, systemic education on gender-affirming practice and we offer research poetry as a potential tool to support learning.

Background: There is an increasing need for effective interventions for child and adolescent mental health promotion, with mixed evidence to date on what works. Creative Bibliotherapy has promise as a pragmatic, school-based approach.

Methods: We undertook a systematic review of experimental or quasi-experimental studies of Creative Bibliotherapy designed to be delivered by teachers in schools to improve any mental health related outcome for children aged 5-16.

Results: Of 3405 unique reports retrieved, 23 met the inclusion criteria. The majority were student research dissertations (n = 12); conducted in North America (n = 17); conducted in children aged 12 or under (n = 17). Of the 13 (57%) which reported positive impact on mental health outcomes, authors described the selection of diverse and appropriate materials; structured interaction; and trained delivery by school-based practitioners as important to success. These were neither necessary nor sufficient conditions. Few studies were well defended against risk of bias.

Conclusion: There are promising indications that Creative Bibliotherapy in schools can improve mental health and its contributors but, to date, no strong evidence. Much of the literature pre-dates widespread adoption of reporting guidelines, and few designs were robustly defended against bias. Whilst interventions such as Creative Bibliotherapy fit uneasily within experimental evaluation paradigms, many interventions identified in this review could be evaluated with stronger trial designs to identify both positive and negative effects, and (more importantly) the contexts and conditions under which they are likely to improve children's mental health.

Background: Climate change poses significant and escalating threats to public health globally, affecting physical and mental health through direct impacts such as extreme weather events and indirect pathways including food insecurity and displacement. Despite growing recognition of culture and the arts as potential resources for health promotion and climate action, the specific role of the arts in addressing climate-related health impacts remains under-explored and suboptimally integrated into public health and environmental policy frameworks.

Objective: To investigate the role of the arts in addressing the health impacts of climate change from the perspective of experts working at the intersections of arts, health, and climate action.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey study using snowball sampling recruited participants with self-identified expertise at the intersections of arts, health, and climate change. The survey instrument collected qualitative data on perceived roles of arts-based interventions in this domain and barriers to their implementation. Responses were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify key themes and patterns.

Results: Seventy-nine participants (N = 79) from diverse geographic regions globally completed the survey. Analysis revealed four meaningful roles that the arts can play in addressing climate-related health impacts: (1) bringing people together to build community and solidarity; (2) raising awareness and communicating complex information; (3) solving problems collectively; and (4) providing space for emotional processing and healing. Four primary barriers to expanding arts-based work were identified: (1) funding limitations; (2) other resource constraints; (3) collaboration challenges; and (4) lack of recognition and legitimacy.

Conclusions: The arts offer multiple pathways for addressing the health impacts of climate change, though structural barriers limit their implementation and scale. Findings have implications for policymakers, climate scientists, artists, and healthcare professionals seeking to integrate arts-based approaches into climate-health interventions and adaptation strategies.

Governance for health and wellbeing has traditionally been structured as a top-down process, with governments and policymakers determining strategies to improve population health. While there is increasing recognition of the role of arts, creative practice, and culture in wellbeing, cultural participation is often framed as an intervention rather than a governance mechanism. This commentary argues that participatory cultural decision-making is a form of governance for health and wellbeing. By shifting from cultural consumption to cultural co-governance, participatory models such as citizens' juries and community-led planning empower communities and individuals, promoting agency, cohesion, and wellbeing.

Health Education Empowered Through Arts Interventions emerged from personal encounters with illness, stigma, and resilience during the #COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Living in Chongqing, China, near Wuhan (my previous resident), the outbreak's epicenter, I witnessed the fear, isolation, and xenophobia that spread as rapidly as the virus itself. Friends in Wuhan and Chinese nationals abroad faced discrimination and xenophobic attacks that deepened their psychological wounds. Around the same time (2020), a neighbor living with HIV/AIDS in my home community took her own life after enduring years of stigma and social rejection. These intertwined tragedies revealed to me that illness extends beyond the physical; it erodes dignity, identity, and mental well-being when met with prejudice. Yet, amid despair, I observed art's quiet power to heal. During lockdowns, murals, music, and theatre emerged as vital forms of comfort and education, bridging divides in places where words and systems failed. This poem challenges societal stigma surrounding illnesses such as COVID-19, AIDS and mental health, asserting they should not be criminalized or demonized. It portrays art, through music, theatre, and painting, as therapeutic expression, transforming pain into strength, addressing physical and mental health, and fostering community connections that bridge healthcare and emotional healing. It embodies lament and hope, presenting art as a medium for empathy, awareness, and healing. The poem also underscores art's role as an effective form of health education and social medicine, one capable of rebuilding community, restoring self-worth, and fostering resilience vital for health and recovery amid crises and ill-health.

Background: Urban environments increasingly cause sensory overload and psychological fatigue. Green spaces offer some relief, but few designs use silence as a therapeutic tool.

Aims: This study introduces Silent Art Landscapes (SALs), urban spaces that combine art and sound-moderating features. It explores how contemplative, acoustically sensitive landscapes can support inner peace and mental well-being in cities.

Methods: Using a mixed-methods approach, we conducted environmental soundscape assessments, on-site behavioral observations, and semi-structured interviews at three quiet urban art installations in dense metropolitan areas.

Results: Participants reported reduced anxiety, heightened emotional clarity, and a sense of "mental refuge." Reflective surfaces, sound-dampening topography, and interactive light-and-shadow installations contributed to a sense of tranquility.

Conclusions: This research demonstrates the potential of SALs as non-pharmacological multisensory interventions. This approach offers valuable implications for future urban planning, therapeutic design, and public health policy.