Managing evaluation: A community arts organisation's perspective

Abstract

Background Arts and health organisations must increasingly provide measurable evidence of impact to stakeholders, which can pose both logistical and ideological challenges. This paper examines the relationship between the ethos of an arts and health organisation with external demands for evaluation. Methods Research involved an ethnographic engagement where the first author worked closely with the organisation for a year. In addition to informal discussions, twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with core staff and participants. Transcribed interviews were coded and emerging themes were identified. Results Staff considered evaluation to be necessary and useful, yet also to be time consuming and a potential threat to their ethos. Nevertheless, they were able to negotiate the terms of evaluation to enable them to meet their own needs as well as those of funders and other stakeholders. Conclusions While not completely resisting outside demands for evaluation, the organisation was seen to intentionally rework demands for evidence into processes they felt they could work with, thus enabling their ethos to be maintained.

Arts-based health research and academic legitimacy: transcending hegemonic conventions

“…Our participants indicated that much of their work fell outside of the traditional rubric of academic discourses of evaluation and measurement of impact, resulting in tensions in dealing with the expectations of fellow academics, funders, and journal reviewers. These expectations often include the demand for a particular type of evidence – that is observable in an objective manner and with associated measureable indicators of change to specific elements of health and wellbeing (Swan and Atkinson, 2012). This is a constraint, as much current evaluation of ABHR is based on subjective interpretation, often regarded as inadequate.…”

‘The Medical’ and ‘Health’ in a Critical Medical Humanities

“…This is also a feature of arts and health practice that is addressed to specific types of communities, or experiences of ill-health, where, as Parr describes, "a distinctive theme is a sense of shared illness experience" (2006,158). Agencies providing participatory arts and health activities constantly face the challenge of negotiating the demands of funders informed by the dominant model of a neoliberal subject whilst maintaining their own ethos of collective and relational care for well-being (Swan and Atkinson 2012). Without detracting from the importance of individual experience or silencing dissenting voices, such a collective approach questions the desirability of "personalized care" that separates the "ill" individual from the communities and spaces within which he or she lives.…”

Integration and segregation for social enterprise employees: A relational micro‐geography

“…In these, mixing participants with diverse experiences is understood to contribute to societal cohesion and personal network-building (Milligan et al, 2016;Swan & Atkinson, 2012). In these, mixing participants with diverse experiences is understood to contribute to societal cohesion and personal network-building (Milligan et al, 2016;Swan & Atkinson, 2012).…”

“…There is growing interest in developing places to increase social connection; for example, Men's Sheds, community gardens and co‐working spaces. In these, mixing participants with diverse experiences is understood to contribute to societal cohesion and personal network‐building (Milligan et al., ; Swan & Atkinson, ). Aligned, social enterprises aim to enable disadvantaged individuals to develop social capability while also gaining work experience in commercial businesses (Barraket et al., ).…”