Making it together: a service evaluation of creative families: an arts and mental health partnership

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective To evaluate a collaborative intervention between an art and health service. Method This two-year early intervention initiative was comprised of six, ten-week long interlinked artist-led workshop programmes for groups of parents and their children. The number of participants that completed the intervention was 36; however, data were only collected for 22 due to having hard-to-reach participants. This evaluation used a within-subjects repeated measures pre and post design using scores from validated rating scales. Feedback interviews were also carried out over the phone. Results There were significant decreases in parental depression (r = −.5), anxiety (r = −.54) and stress (r = −.58). Socio-emotional problems of the children significantly decreased (r = −.37), however the parents’ perception of competency slightly decreased but was not-significant. Despite this, parents’ perception of self-efficacy increased after the Creative Families intervention (r = .17). Interview data showed that parents’ sense of isolation decreased, increased their self-confidence and that they were able to utilise what they had learnt at home. Discussion The project’s impact is understood in the context of the participants’ personal and social circumstances, many were living with complex problems and seen as being hard to reach. The research indicates a need for inter-agency and preventative interventions.