“It was Very Liberating”. Dialogic Literary Gatherings Supporting Mental Health Literacy

Abstract

Mental health is being reframed as a fundamental right for all people, and mental health literacy is a tool that can enable patients to gain the knowledge, personal skills, and confidence to take action to improve their mental health, and their lives overall. This exploratory study analysed the power of dialogic literary gatherings (DLGs) to foster it in a group of patients with mental health disorders who gathered for 1 h once a week to share their readings of literature masterpieces. During the year-long study, a total of 140 patients participated in the DLGs in groups of 12 to 15 people. Results suggest that DLGs promoted the development of the participants’ mental health literacy and produced gains in emotional and social wellbeing by strengthening reading, speaking, and listening skills, fostering supportive relations, contributing to overcoming stigma, and enhancing agency. The transferability of DLGs to mental health care is discussed.

Impact on mental health and well-being of the dialogic literary gathering among women in a primary healthcare centre

“…This study contributes to such body of research by providing supporting evidence on the impact of DLG in improving the study participants’ mental health and wellbeing. Whereas the improvements DLG generate among diverse participants’ health have already been reported (Ruiz-Eugenio et al, 2020 , 2021 ; Zubiri-Esnaola et al, 2023 ), this study makes a twofold contribution in this regard. On the one hand, it supports previous evidence on the social impact of DLG in terms of mental health and wellbeing with additional evidence on such impact among adult vulnerable women, which had previously been underexplored.…”

“…Indeed, having spaces where the communities feel heard and can express their needs and objectives is key, especially the most vulnerable groups such as the elderly (Prades-Caballero et al, 2023 ). Research has shown that egalitarian dialogue is key to transform relationships and contexts and improve physical and mental health (Zubiri-Esnaola et al, 2023 ).…”

“…For instance, some studies have shown that during the COVID-19 lockdowns, some educational centres implemented DLG online, improving participants’ wellbeing and overcoming their isolation during such hard times (Ruiz-Eugenio et al, 2020 , 2021 ). There is also evidence on the beneficial transference of DLG into a hospital with patients with mental health disorders, who after participating in the gatherings developed mental health literacy and improved emotional and social wellbeing (Zubiri-Esnaola et al, 2023 ). However, the impact of a DLG implemented in a primary healthcare centre on the mental health and wellbeing of vulnerable adult women has not yet been explored in depth.…”

Optimal Methodology for Addressing the Social Impact Component within Project Proposals and Curriculum Vitae

“…The former has already been demonstrated, for instance, through the Dialogic Literary Gatherings, a Successful Action implemented in mental health units, among other contexts. Recent findings have shown that even individuals who have not participated in them have benefitted from their relatives' participation (Zubiri-Esnaola et al, 2023). Further, researchers can use evidence of their past social impact, or of citizens' use of their scientific knowledge, to argue that their research will likely achieve social impact in the future.…”