<i>‘It’s like having a day of freedom, a day off from being ill’</i>: Exploring the experiences of people living with mental health problems who attend a community-based arts project, using interpretative phenomenological analysis

Lawson, Jackie; Reynolds, Frances; Bryant, Wendy; Wilson, Lesley

doi:10.1177/1359105313479627

Cited by 40 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Tangible artistic products (appraised personally as well as shown to others within the group, displayed more formally in the art gallery or given as gifts) helped demonstrate participants’ capability to self and others. This resonates with evidence that creative occupations strengthen a person’s sense of identity beyond the labels imposed by long-term mental and physical illness (Lawson et al, 2014; Stickley and Eades, 2013). …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

“…The motivating and supportive functions of the group and the tutors (or group facilitators) in community art interventions have been noted in other studies (e.g. Camic et al, 2014; Lawson et al, 2014), and clearly rely on the facilitators’ skills not only in presenting interesting art projects but managing group dynamics to enhance the experience of mutual support, respect and sharing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) has underpinned previous research into the creative process (e.g. Lawson et al, 2014; Van Lith et al, 2011) and provided insight into the challenges of caregiving (O’Shaughnessy et al, 2010). This is an approach that values detailed idiographic analysis of small numbers of participants to obtain rich understandings of their shared and distinctive experiences (Smith et al, 2009).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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‘A respite thing’: A qualitative study of a creative arts leisure programme for family caregivers of people with dementia

Pienaar

Reynolds

2015

Health Psychology Open

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This study explored the meanings of participating in a 5-week creative arts leisure programme designed for family caregivers of people with dementia, using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Eight carers attended and four who met the eligibility criteria agreed to be interviewed. Participants experienced the arts group as providing a sense of freedom and respite, strengthening identity through promoting achievement, offering social support through a collective focus on art- and craft-making and increasing resilience for coping with caring. Some found the 5-week programme too short. Benefits were linked to the security of knowing that loved ones with dementia were close by, being well cared for. Further research is needed into the long-term benefits of creative arts groups for promoting carer well-being.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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‘A respite thing’: A qualitative study of a creative arts leisure programme for family caregivers of people with dementia

Pienaar

Reynolds

2015

Health Psychology Open

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“…Art making thus had the potential to offer something unique to people with mental health difficulties, with phenomenological studies demonstrating this (Lawson, Reynolds, Bryant, & Wilson, 2014). In this study that uniqueness had a spiritual texture previously unknown in participants' lives.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 72%

The intersubjectivity of spiritual experience in the art practice of people with histories of mental distress: a phenomenological study

Sagan

2016

Mental Health, Religion & Culture

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The therapeutic outcomes gained through engaging with the art making process are well documented. Somewhat less probed are the auxiliary and sometimes enigmatic experiences of art making that impact on the sense of mental wellbeing; experiences which, by their nature, can be difficult to capture. This paper discusses such experiences, described by a group of art makers with histories of mental illness, as being spiritual in nature. A phenomenological approach using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) methodology was used, with Heideggerian concepts of 'Dasein' (There-being) and 'Mitsein' (With-being) informing an interpretation of the intersubjective. Such experiences were felt to be profound, and were often claimed to be accessible exclusively through an art practice that was sustained over a number of years of regular activity. The paper concludes by pointing out the difficulty in capturing evidence of sustained, non-clinical strategies for wellbeing such as those developed as an inherent part of the experiences reported here, due to their nuanced nature and the reluctance with which they may be narrated.

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“…A number of British projects offered Arts on Prescription for people experiencing mental health problems and social isolation, and the results proved to help people recover [8]. Along similar lines, participants experienced an art project as improving self-worth, emancipating self from mental illness labels, also offering a sense of belonging, enabling acquisition of valued skills and offering meaningful occupation [10]. Furthermore, individuals affected by severe mental illness in mental health care settings experienced that creative writing constituted an important part of the recovery [7].…”

Section: Possible Link Between Cultural-literary Activities Health Amentioning

confidence: 92%

Experiences on Participation in Literary Activities: Intellectual Stimuli Empower People with Mental Health Problems

Kristiansen¹,

Lif²,

Asklund³

2017

OJN

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Some research acknowledges engagement in creative and literary activities as constructively impacting rehabilitation and recovery. Nevertheless, there is a deficit of literature describing experiences of participation in literary activities. This study examined how members of a non-profit association for mental health, with experiences of mental problems or illnesses, experienced group-based literary activities facilitated of a bi-disciplinary research team during one semester. This study held a constructive/naturalistic design and used a qualitative methodology with a latent analysis to describe how participants experienced literary activities (creative writing, reading and conversations about published and own written poetry and prose texts). Both individual and focus-group interviews were performed early 2014. Despite previous negative experiences, the findings showed that the participants perceived the literary activities empowering. Four categories were created: Presumptions of personal literacy, leadership role, participants' role, and literacy development. These were abstracted and interpreted into three themes: Identifying a reading and writing self-image, challenging and redefining one's reading and writing identity, and strengthening one's intellectual and humanistic capacity. Literary activities seemed to positively change the participants' attitudes towards writing and reading, and also enhanced their literacy skills. We argue that literacy skills are interconnected with health literacy. Involvement of literary activities into rehabilitation in mental health practice may be beneficial for some groups, and merits further studies.

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‘It’s like having a day of freedom, a day off from being ill’: Exploring the experiences of people living with mental health problems who attend a community-based arts project, using interpretative phenomenological analysis

Cited by 40 publications

References 22 publications

‘A respite thing’: A qualitative study of a creative arts leisure programme for family caregivers of people with dementia

‘A respite thing’: A qualitative study of a creative arts leisure programme for family caregivers of people with dementia

The intersubjectivity of spiritual experience in the art practice of people with histories of mental distress: a phenomenological study

Experiences on Participation in Literary Activities: Intellectual Stimuli Empower People with Mental Health Problems

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