CLAY THERAPY AS A COMPONENT OF ART THERAPY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RUSSO-UKRAINIAN WAR

Bringing arts-based therapies in from the scientific cold

Art and cultural activities can benefit mental health. However, there is insufficient evidence on active engagement in art and cultural activities for preventing depressive symptoms among older adults. Therefore, we examined the association of active engagement in art and cultural activities with depressive symptom onset among older adults using 3-year longitudinal data. This longitudinal study recruited non-institutionalised older adults independent in daily living from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) established in 2010, and those without depressive symptoms were followed for three years. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale. Active engagement in nine art and cultural activities, including Japanese traditional cultural activities, were evaluated (musical performance, singing, dancing, handicrafts, painting, photography, poetry composition, calligraphy, and tea ceremony/flower arrangement). Ultimately, 37,627 older adults without depressive symptoms at baseline were analysed. The participants' mean age (standard deviation) was 72.6 (5.5) years, and 51.5% were female. During the follow-up period, depressive symptoms occurred in 3844 participants (10.2%). Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that active engagement in art and cultural activities was inversely associated with depressive symptom onset (odds ratio=0.80, 95% confidence interval=0.73-0.87, p<0.001). This association was confirmed regardless of age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Among the activities, especially dancing and photography were protective against depressive symptoms. Active engagement in art and cultural activities may contribute to preventing depressive symptoms among older adults. Promoting art and cultural engagement could be important to protect their mental health.

Art and Music Programs Prove Their Worth

This literature review aims to illustrate the variety and multitude of studies showing that participation in arts activities and clinical arts interventions can be beneficial for citizens with mental and physical health problems. The article is focused on mental health benefits because this is an emerging field in the Nordic countries where evidence is demanded from national health agencies that face an increasing number of citizens with poor mental health and a need for non-medical interventions and programmes. A total of 20 articles of interest were drawn from a wider literature review. Studies were identified through the search engines: Cochrane Library, Primo, Ebscohost, ProQuest, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed and Design and Applied Arts Index. Search words included the following: arts engagement + health/hospital/recovery, arts + hospital/evidence/wellbeing, evidence-based health practice, participatory arts for wellbeing, health + poetry/literature/dance/singing/music/community arts, arts health cost-effectiveness and creative art or creative activity + health/hospital/recovery/mental health. The inclusion criteria for studies were (1) peer review and (2) empirical data. The studies document that participation in activities in a spectrum from clinical arts interventions to non-clinical participatory arts programmes is beneficial and an effective way of using engagement in the arts to promote holistic approaches with health benefits. Engagement in specially designed arts activities or arts therapies can reduce physical symptoms and improve mental health issues. Based on the growing evidence of the arts as a tool for enhancing mental health wellbeing, and in line with the global challenges in health, we suggest that participatory arts activities and clinical arts interventions are made more widely available in health and social settings. It is well-documented that such activities can be used as non-medical interventions to promote public health and wellbeing.

Background: The arts and health evidence base needs to be grounded by common terminology and concepts from which original research and comparative studies can be developed. The aim of this study was to elucidate terminology central to understanding the arts and health causal pathway by defining arts engagement via art forms, activities and level (magnitude) of engagement. Method: The study design was cross-sectional. International experts (n = 280) completed an online survey about the concept of arts engagement (response fraction 44%) to generate a list of art forms and activities. Responses were analysed using NVivo. Participating experts then completed a second survey to rate activities by level of engagement (response fraction 57%). Ratings were analysed via descriptive statistics and factor analysis. Results: Arts engagement can be defined by five art forms – (1) performing arts; (2) visual arts, design and craft; (3) community/cultural festivals, fairs and events; (4) literature; and (5) online, digital and electronic arts – and measured via 91 activities. ‘Active’ arts activities had higher levels of engagement than ‘passive’ activities. Conclusion: Study findings provide guidance about which art forms and activities should be included in population surveys and provide a measurement of exposure for use in studies investigating the relationship between arts engagement and health.

Today, significant changes are taking place in the approach to the study of many sociocultural phenomena. Duality and polarity of their perception and analysis are being mitigated, alternative facets of the familiar and the generally accepted are coming to light, a number of “marginal” ideas are becoming the “new norm”. The research paradigm of the 20th – 21st centuries pays special attention to non-binary gender. Modern researchers focus on such issues as self-identification and search for gender identity, mechanisms of gender construction, variability of sex-role and identification models, non-conventional forms of gender identity (transgender and agender, intersexuality, etc.), as well as their representation in contemporary culture. One of such nonconventional phenomena of culture today is intersexuality, the current form of the well-known philosophical idea of androgyny. Intersex as a phenomenon of contemporary culture is considered as an element of the emerging non-binary gender system. Nowadays, intersex is not only the denomination of a person with biological characteristics atypical of the binary gender paradigm, but also the name of a distinctive culture discussing the problems of this new kind of people, who have become a significant part of our society. This article studies the representation of the intersex phenomenon in contemporary culture through the lens of cinematography. The sociocultural status of intersexuality explains the increasing quantity and thematic diversity of cinematic material. Intersexuality is a subject of active artistic reflection of many contemporary directors (L. Puenzo, C. Lavagna, J. Solomonoff, R. Féret, S. Savory, etc.), the discussion of acute social, legal and ethical problems being their focus. Thus, the leading themes are as follows: self-identification of intersex people and their search for gender identity; the problem of medicalization of intersex people and the legality of “corrective”/ “normalizing” operations from both medical and ethical points of view; parent–intersex child relationship; socialization of intersex teenagers and social acceptance of this new type of person.

Background There is a growing body of literature suggesting that arts and cultural engagement can benefit physical, mental and social wellbeing. However, there is evidence that there is a social and geographical gradient across the engagement; more likely to be engaged by people with higher educational qualifications and those living in affluent countryside and cosmopolitan neighbourhoods. But it remains unclear precisely why this might be. Examining the geographical patterns of arts engagement has particular policy relevance at present, given the growing interest in the ‘social prescribing’ scheme, a place-based health approach, and in place-based funding in arts in health research and programmes. However, as yet, there has been little research into whether place has an effect on patterns of arts and cultural engagement independent of individual factors. Therefore, in this study, we sought to disentangle associations between geographical deprivation and arts engagement from individual measures of socio-economic positions by using the propensity score matching (PSM) technique. Methods We analysed data from 18,587 participants in the Understanding Society Wave 2 and used PSM to match individuals who lived in the 30% most deprived areas with those who lived in the 30% least deprived areas and shared similar demographic background and socio-economic characteristics. The level of area deprivation was derived from the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), which measures the relative deprivation for small areas based on seven domains (e.g. crime and employment). Three different types of arts and cultural engagement were explored: arts activities (e.g. dancing), cultural events attendance (e.g. exhibition), and museums and heritages visits. Results The results show that people who lived in the most deprived area were less likely to participate in arts activities (ATT=-0.42, 95%CI=-0.55,-0.29, p Conclusion This study show that people who live in the most deprived area are less likely to participate in arts activities, attend cultural events or visit museums and heritage sites, independent of identified demographic and socio-economic characteristics. Our findings suggest that addressing potential structural or neighbourhood factors may help increase individual motivation and capacity to engage in cultural activities.

IntroductionArts and cultural engagement are associated with a range of mental and physical health benefits, including promoting heathy aging and lower incidence of age-related disabilities such as slower cognitive decline and slower progression of frailty. This suggests arts engagement constitutes health-promoting behaviour in older age. However, there are no large-scale studies examining how the predictors of arts engagement vary with age.MethodsData from the Health and Retirement Study (2014) were used to identify sociodemographic, life satisfaction, social, and arts appreciation predictors of (1) frequency of arts engagement, (2) cultural attendance, (3) difficulty participating in the arts, and (4) being an interested non-attendee of cultural events. Logistic regression models were stratified by age groups [50–59, 60–69, ≥70] for the frequency of arts participation outcome and [50–69 vs ≥70] all other outcomes.ResultsFindings indicated a number of age-related predictors of frequent arts engagement, including gender, educational attainment, wealth, dissatisfaction with aging, and instrumental activities of daily living (iADL). For cultural event attendance, lower interest in the arts predicted lack of engagement across age groups, whereas higher educational attainment and more frequent religious service attendance became predictors in older age groups (≥ 70). Adults in both age groups were less likely to report difficulties engaging in the arts if they had lower neighbourhood safety, whilst poor self-rated health and low arts appreciation also predicted reduced likelihood of this outcome, but only in the younger (50–69) age group. Adults in the older (≥ 70) age group were more likely to be interested non-attendees of cultural events if they had higher educational attainment and less likely if they lived in neighbourhoods with low levels of safety.ConclusionsOur results suggest that certain factors become stronger predictors of arts and cultural engagement and barriers to engagement as people age. Further, there appear to be socioeconomic inequalities in engagement that may increase in older ages, with arts activities overall more accessible as individuals age compared to cultural engagement due to additional financial barriers and transportation barriers. Ensuring that these activities are accessible to people of all ages will allow older adults to benefit from the range of health outcomes gained from arts and cultural engagement.

Arts and cultural engagement are associated with a range of mental and physical health benefits, including promoting heathy aging and lower incidence of age-related disabilities such as slower cognitive decline and slower progression of frailty. This suggests arts engagement constitutes health-promoting behaviour in older age. However, there are no large-scale studies examining how the predictors of arts engagement vary with age. Data from the Health and Retirement Study (2014) were used to identify sociodemographic, life satisfaction, social, and arts appreciation predictors of (1) frequency of arts engagement, (2) cultural attendance, (3) difficulty participating in the arts, and (4) being an interested non-attendee of cultural events. Logistic regression models were stratified by age groups [50-59, 60-69, ≥70] for the frequency of arts participation outcome and [50-69 vs ≥70] all other outcomes. Findings indicated a number of age-related predictors of frequent arts engagement, including gender, educational attainment, wealth, dissatisfaction with aging, and instrumental activities of daily living (iADL). For cultural event attendance, lower interest in the arts predicted lack of engagement across age groups, whereas higher educational attainment and more frequent religious service attendance became predictors in older age groups (≥ 70). Adults in both age groups were less likely to report difficulties engaging in the arts if they had lower neighbourhood safety, whilst poor self-rated health and low arts appreciation also predicted reduced likelihood of this outcome, but only in the younger (50-69) age group. Adults in the older (≥ 70) age group were more likely to be interested non-attendees of cultural events if they had higher educational attainment and less likely if they lived in neighbourhoods with low levels of safety. Our results suggest that certain factors become stronger predictors of arts and cultural engagement and barriers to engagement as people age. Further, there appear to be socioeconomic inequalities in engagement that may increase in older ages, with arts activities overall more accessible as individuals age compared to cultural engagement due to additional financial barriers and transportation barriers. Ensuring that these activities are accessible to people of all ages will allow older adults to benefit from the range of health outcomes gained from arts and cultural engagement.

Background The materials in art therapy are a crucial axis in the therapeutic process. Embroidery is a traditional craft that combines various materials with needle and thread and has evolved into a significant artistic genre. Despite its therapeutic potential and prominence in feminist discourse, embroidery is underrepresented in art therapy research, literature, and training programmes. Aims This study aims to explore the therapeutic aspects of embroidery in art therapy through the perspectives of veteran art therapists who incorporate it into their clinical practice and to expand the understanding of embroidery as a therapeutic tool. Method A qualitative phenomenological and art-informed research approach was used. Four focus groups with 13 art therapists were conducted using semi-structured interviews and interactive embroidery sessions. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach was used. Results Embroidery practice in art therapy bridges polarities by linking the personal with the universal through a dialectic-action process. This process is reflected in three main themes: (1) Personal Level-how therapists’ personal experiences with embroidery shape their identities and foster self-connection; (2) Therapeutic Level-embroidery's role in client identity formation, therapeutic relationships, bridging contrasting embodied experiences, and the expression of silenced aspects; (3) Cultural-Social Level-therapists acting as cultural ambassadors, promoting the significance of embroidery. These themes underscore the integration of personal, therapeutic, and cultural dimensions in therapeutic practice. Conclusions Embroidery uniquely supports personal identity, cultural connection, and grounding even in chaotic environments. It helps establish self-connection and has the potential for deep, embodied healing of personal wounds. Plain-language summary This study explores art therapists’ views on the therapeutic aspects of embroidery, emphasising its unique combination of repetitive motion and material use. Thirteen experienced female art therapists who integrate embroidery into their practice participated in four focus groups. Their insights revealed three main themes: personal experience with embroidery, its role in therapy, and its cultural and social significance. Embroidery was found to connect various polarities through its unique qualities, aiding in integration and processing. The therapists observed that embroidery supports close self-connection, even in chaotic circumstances. They also noted that it helps navigate relationships, bridge conflicts, and express silenced voices. Additionally, it has the potential for profound, embodied healing of personal wounds and strengthens clients’ connections to their cultural and social heritage.

This paper explores the relationship between engagement in arts, culture and sport, and subjective well-being, contributing to our understanding of the leisure experience, and cultural value, of these activities. Ordered probit analysis of UK data from wave 2 (2010–2011) of Understanding Society provides evidence in support of a wide range of cultural goods generating positive leisure experience, reflected in overall (life, general happiness) and domain (leisure) satisfaction. Frequency of engagement is central to certain activities: only regular participation in arts activities and sport generates positive effects. In contrast, arts events are positive irrespective of frequency. The findings also indicate even less frequent engagement in activities exhibiting cultural characteristics, e.g. museums/historical sites, has positive association with satisfaction. Finally, although employment has a negative association with leisure satisfaction, engagement in leisure activities is not found to spillover into job satisfaction (with the exception of certain sports). This suggests individuals consider work and leisure (including quality of leisure time) separately.

This study examines the association between cultural and artistic engagement and the well-being of the elderly. Utilizing data from the 2022 National Survey of Cultural and Artistic Activities and the National Leisure Activity Survey, the analysis focuses on two demographic groups: early older adults (aged 55-64) and older adults (aged 65 and above). The findings reveal that overall participation in cultural and artistic activities remains relatively low among older adults. The analysis of the 2022 National Survey of Cultural and Artistic Activities indicates that across all artistic genres, between approximately 46% and over 90% of respondents had no prior experience. Notably, engagement in cultural and artistic activities, particularly in literature, visual arts, and music, significantly declined with advancing age. Moreover, a latent profile analysis based on the 2022 National Leisure Activity Survey identified four distinct participation patterns: “diverse participation activists,” “cultural and sports activity-oriented,” “hobby-focused,” and “rest-oriented.” Among these, individuals classified as “diverse participation activists” and “cultural and sports activity-oriented” exhibited significantly higher levels of happiness compared to those in the “hobby-focused” and “rest-oriented” groups. These findings empirically underscore the positive impact of active cultural and artistic participation on the well-being of older adults. To enhance engagement in cultural and artistic activities among this population, it is essential to develop educational programs that facilitate lifelong participation, fostering the accumulation of leisure experience and cultural capital from an early stage. Additionally, cultural and artistic activities should be recognized as instrumental in promoting older adults’ health, social connectivity, and overall quality of life, warranting policy initiatives that support their integration into aging-related well-being strategies.

Background: Recent studies have highlighted the importance of examining clients’ perspectives on factors of change in art therapy to gain a deeper understanding of the therapeutic process. Objectives: To ascertain the factors influencing the contribution of art therapy from the clients’ viewpoint. Method: Fifty-one adult clients took part in semi-structured interviews for this qualitative study. They were asked to reflect on moments in art therapy when they experienced change. A thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: The analysis identified two main themes related to change factors involving the therapist–client relationship and engagement with art and artmaking. The first theme, called ‘relational factors’, included two categories: transformative connections, which highlight the therapist’s role in shaping clients’ self-perception through trust, empathy, and conflict resolution, and shared observation and verbal analysis, referring to cognitive and emotional insights gained through reflecting on artwork. The second theme, called ‘art engagement’, also includes two categories. The first category focuses on processing trauma through sensory involvement, emphasising the symbolic and embodied aspects of creative work. The second category concentrates on art as a calming and self-regulating experience, highlighting the relaxing and emotionally balancing qualities of artistic activity. Conclusion: The findings highlight a dynamic system comprising two key processes: the therapeutic relationship and embodied, kinesthetic, creative artmaking. They emphasise the importance of the body–mind connection in art therapy, which develops during the creative process. Implications for practice: The findings underscore the impact of symbolic and embodied/kinesthetic cognitive-emotional regulating processes of art for clients’ development. Plain-language summary: This study explored how clients experience changes during art therapy. Fifty-two adult clients were interviewed about moments in therapy when they felt something changed. The analysis identified two key elements that drive this change: the therapist-client relationship and the artmaking process. The therapeutic bond was essential to building trust, empathy, and the ability to work through conflicts. Artmaking allowed the clients to access and process emotional content, primarily through observing their artwork, using the art materials to work through trauma, and experiencing art as a calming and regulating activity. Together, the clients felt that these connected processes supported emotional growth and highlighted the body–mind benefits of art therapy. These findings suggest that focusing on both the relational and the creative aspects of art therapy can increase the therapeutic impact.

ObjectivesThe global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 heavily affected the arts and creative industries due to the instigation of lockdown measures in the United Kingdom and closure of venues. However, it also provided new opportunities for arts and cultural engagement through virtual activities and streamed performances. Yet it remains unclear (i) who was likely to engage with the arts at home during lockdown, (ii) how this engagement differed from patterns of arts engagement prior to COVID-19, and (iii) whether home-based arts engagement was related to people’s ability to cope with their emotions during lockdown. This study was therefore designed to address these questions.MethodsWe used data collected in late May from the United Kingdom COVID-19 Social Study run by University College London. Multivariate regressions were used for the analysis (N = 19,384). Identified factors included demographic factors, socio-economic position, psychosocial wellbeing and health conditions, adverse events/worries, and coping styles.ResultsFour types of home-based arts engagement were identified during the COVID-19 pandemic: digital arts and writing, musical activities, crafts, and reading for pleasure. Our results show that the strongest predictors of the engagement were age, education attainment, social support, and emotion-focused or supportive coping styles. In particular, younger adults (aged 18–29), non-keyworkers, people with greater social support, people who had lost work, those who were worried about catching the virus, and those with an emotion-focused, problem-focused or supportive coping style were more likely to have increased arts engagement during lockdown. Arts activities were used as approach and avoidance strategies to help cope with emotions, as well as to help improve self-development.ConclusionOverall, our study suggests that while some people who engaged in the arts during the COVID-19 pandemic were those who typically engage under normal circumstances, the pandemic has also created new incentives and opportunities for others to engage virtually. Additionally, this study highlights the value of the arts as coping tools during stressful situations.

Evidence on the role of the arts in promoting health and wellbeing has grown over the last two decades. In the United Kingdom, studies using secondary data sources have documented temporal variations in levels of arts engagement in the population, its determinants and its mental wellbeing implications. However, arts engagement is often characterized by prioritizing “high-brow” art forms. In this article, we introduce the HEartS Survey, a tool that aims to increase the balance between inclusivity and brevity of existing arts engagement measures and to focus specifically on the connection between arts engagement and social wellbeing. We explore trends in participatory and receptive engagement with literary, visual, performing, crafts and decorative arts among 5,338 adults in the UK in 2018–2019 using summative engagement scores and cluster analysis. Regression models, adjusted for demographic, socioeconomic, health, and social covariates, examine correlations between arts engagement and psychological and social wellbeing measures. Over 97% of respondents reported engagement in one or more arts activities at least once during 2018–2019, with reading and listening to music being the most popular activities. Arts engagement grouped into three distinct clusters: 19.8% constituted “low engagers” whose main source of engagement was occasional reading; 44.4% constituted “receptive consumers” who read and listened to music frequently and engaged with popular receptive arts activities such as cinema, live music, theater, exhibitions, and museums; and 35.8% constituted “omnivores” who frequently engaged in almost all arts activities. In agreement with existing studies, more arts engagement was associated with higher levels of wellbeing, social connectedness, and lower odds of intense social loneliness. In contrast, we found a positive association between more arts engagement, depression, and intense emotional loneliness for the most highly engaged omnivores. We conclude that arts engagement in the population forms specific profiles with distinct characteristics and consider implications for mental and social wellbeing.