Creative Arts Activities Research Articles

‘Listen to our voice!’ using co-creation and art-based methods to explore the welfare and wellbeing of siblings of children with life-limiting conditions

ABSTRACT Sibling of children with a life-limiting condition (LLC) face challenge. Yet there is relatively little research specifically investigating the psychosocial impact on siblings living with a child with an LLC. A qualitative participatory methodology helped explore the experiences of nine siblings, aged 6–16, of children with an LLC: their perception of their wellbeing, coping strategies and needs, in England, UK. Data were gathered through an amalgamation of creative art activity and focus group audiotaped discussion. Three themes were identified; ‘dealing with uncertainty and stress’; ‘coping with being different’, and ‘spill over between home and school’. Despite the adversity, these children experienced, because of caring responsibilities and worry about their sibling with LLC, they demonstrated resilience and maturity. They did, however, experience schooling challenges and found making friends difficult. They felt school could help if teacher awareness was promoted and they had assistance in connecting to peers with shared life experiences.

Psychobiological responses to choir singing and creative arts activities in children and adolescents with mental disorders: results of apilot study.

Children and adolescents living with mental health problems often experience stress and poor mood states, which may influence their quality of life and well-being. Arts interventions may improve mood and well-being and reduce physiological stress in this vulnerable population. Acohort of patients in child and adolescent psychiatry (N = 42; age range: 12-18years) participated in one of four arts activities including choir singing (n = 11), textile design (n = 9), drama (n = 16), and clownery (n = 6). They were led by professional artists and delivered through five consecutive 90-min daily afternoon sessions over the course of 1week. Questionnaires of mood and saliva samples before and after each session served to assess short-term psychobiological changes. In addition, patients reported their quality of life and well-being at the beginning and at the end of the 1‑week program. Results showed that alertness was significantly enhanced after textile design (∆post-pre = 4.08, 95% CI [0.77, 7.39]) and after singing (∆post-pre = 2.20, 95% CI [-0.55, 4.94]). Moreover, mood tended to be positively affected by textile design (∆post-pre = 2.89, 95% CI [-0.39, 6.18]). Quality of life increased significantly after singing (∆post-pre = 5.49, 95% CI [1.05, 9.92]). Arts participation except singing was associated with significant reductions in salivary cortisol (sCort) (textile design ∆post-pre = -0.81 ng/mL, 95% CI [-1.48, -0.14]; drama ∆post-pre = -0.76 ng/mL, 95% CI [-1.28, -0.24]; clownery ∆post-pre = -0.74 ng/mL, 95% CI [-1.47, -0.01]). No significant changes were observed for well-being over the whole program and salivary immunoglobulinA (sIgA) after any of the arts activities. These results suggest that arts participation can improve mood state and reduce stress in young people with mental disorders, but there is aneed for further studies.

Utilization of Art in Nursing Education to Enhance Student Spiritual Growth and Holistic Nursing Practice.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate student nurses' perceptions of how creative art activities might support spiritual self-exploration, foster understanding of holistic care and promote spiritual growth in relation to Mercy and Jesuit values emphasized in their nursing program. Design: A qualitative design was used with data collected through surveys and students' reflections. Methods: Students enrolled in an introductory nursing course with a service-learning component participated in the study. Students were initially asked to create drawings depicting Mercy/Jesuit charisms, spirituality, and holistic nursing then complete written reflections. At the term's end, students created group art projects connecting service learning, holistic nursing care, and spiritual growth. Students responded to survey questions regarding spirituality, Mercy/Jesuit charisms, nursing practice, and their art experiences. Findings: Surveys were completed by 122 of the 137 students who participated in the art projects. After initial difficulty with artistic expression, most students reported the projects provided an opportunity for introspection related to personal spirituality, nursing, and the impact of service-learning experiences on future nursing practice. Conclusion: Arts-based learning can help students explore and express spirituality related to nursing and support their understanding and integration of values essential to the delivery of holistic nursing care.

Research on the Teaching Optimization Path in Children’s Creative Art Curriculum Under the Perspective of “Sanquan Education”

Children’s creative art curriculum is a professional course supported by art materials and techniques and facilitated through creative activities, aiming at cultivating students’ ability to organize creative art activities using various art materials and techniques. In light of the evolving focus in China’s colleges and universities from “what to know” to “how to apply,” the pivotal question for educators is how to maximize the value of children’s creative art curriculum. Based on this, this article takes “Sanquan education” as the starting point, combines factual and theoretical arguments, and analyzes the teaching optimization path of children’s creative art curriculum under the perspective of Sanquan education, to improve the quality and efficiency of teaching.

Lifestyle Enrichment in Later Life and Its Association With Dementia Risk

Lifestyles enriched with socially and mentally stimulating activities in older age may help build cognitive reserve and reduce dementia risk. To investigate the association of leisure activities and social networks with dementia risk among older individuals. This longitudinal prospective cohort study used population-based data from the ASPREE Longitudinal Study of Older Persons (ALSOP) for March 1, 2010, to November 30, 2020. Community-dwelling individuals in Australia aged 70 years or older who were generally healthy and without major cognitive impairment at enrollment were recruited to the ALSOP study between March 1, 2010, and December 31, 2014. Data were analyzed from December 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023. A total of 19 measures of leisure activities and social networks assessed at baseline were classified using exploratory factor analysis. Dementia was adjudicated by an international expert panel according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition) criteria. Cox proportional hazards regression examined dementia risk over 10 years, adjusting for education, socioeconomic status, and a range of health-related factors. This study included 10 318 participants. Their median age was 73.8 (IQR, 71.6-77.2) years at baseline, more than half (52.6%) were women, and most self-identified as White (98.0%). In adusted analyses, more frequent engagement in adult literacy activities (eg, writing letters or journaling, using a computer, and taking education classes) and in active mental activities (eg, playing games, cards, or chess and doing crosswords or puzzles) was associated with an 11.0% (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR], 0.89 [95% CI, 0.85-0.93]) and a 9.0% (AHR, 0.91 [95% CI, 0.87-0.95]) lower risk of dementia, respectively. To a lesser extent, engagement in creative artistic activities (craftwork, woodwork, or metalwork and painting or drawing) (AHR, 0.93 [95% CI, 0.88-0.99]) and in passive mental activities (reading books, newspapers, or magazines; watching television; and listening to music or the radio) (AHR, 0.93 [95% CI, 0.86-0.99]) was also associated with reduced dementia risk. In contrast, interpersonal networks, social activities, and external outings were not associated with dementia risk in this sample. These results suggest that engagement in adult literacy, creative art, and active and passive mental activities may help reduce dementia risk in late life. In addition, these findings may guide policies for geriatric care and interventions targeting dementia prevention for older adults.

A New Exploration of Artistic Participation by Local Residents of Barcelona: “Utopia House Museum” Community Arts Education Practice Project

Utopia House Museum is a community art education project. In the context of the growing worldwide emphasis on the concept of arts and cultural education, the current state of arts participation among local citizens in Barcelona is still not promising. To address this issue, the concept of "Museum-House" is developed with the aim of bringing museums into the community and creating an outreach of museums in the community. However, it is more easily adapted to the needs of the community than the museum and radiates to the neighboring communities. Through an arts education program called Utopia House Museum, the community's issues and needs are addressed through community collaboration on craft and creative arts activities. The physical space of this project is offered to the community not only as a museum space, but also as a community cultural space with certain living areas that change according to the needs of the neighborhood. This is a utopian museum project that emerges from the idea of home and adds new ideas to the current public participation in art and cultural practices.

Supporting the wellbeing of associate lecturers at the Open University through a creative arts intervention

This case study discusses an online space created for associate lecturers (ALs) working at the Open University, with the intention of supporting wellbeing through sharing – and responding to – each other’s examples of creative arts activities. This paper reflects on engagement with and outcomes from this intervention. Four key themes emerged in participant responses to the intervention: 1) increased connectedness; 2) a feeling of being away from work; 3) happiness, enjoyment and positive feelings; and 4) openness to new places, ideas and shares. The results were analysed in line with available studies on sense of belonging, connectedness and well-being. This project highlights the potential for shared online creative activities to support connectedness and wellbeing in educators and students who are working in the online environment.

Accessible and meaningful engagement for people living with dementia when transitioning arts activities online.

With opportunities for self-expression and enjoyment, creative arts activities can offer many benefits for people living with dementia including improving health and wellbeing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, arts organizations have had to transition activities previously involving face-to-face interactions to remote delivery. Aiming to understand the accommodations that have been made for people living with dementia (PLWD) to access arts activities through technology, we conducted a survey with arts-workers involved in the remote delivery. A survey using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative questions was distributed online to arts workers delivering activities remotely for PLWD in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. These included what types of activities were employed, how the activities changed due to remote access (including motivations for access), what tools were used, what technological support there was for access, and how this affected the number of people they were able to reach with these activities. Twenty-seven arts workers (mean age = 47 SD = 6.4) delivering music (23 respondents), arts (8), crafts (4), dance (6), drama (3), and word-based activities (1) responded. The main tools used included: Zoom, YouTube Live, Microsoft Teams, and Facebook Live. Several themes emerged from the thematic analysis of open-ended responses: i) gaining a sense of community, finding structure and purpose, and combatting against physical isolation were perceived to be major motivations for people living with dementia, ii) creating opportunities for choosing, contributing input, and sharing was important, and iii) changes in access resulted from the shift to remote delivery such as difficulty for PLWD to interact through technology, user setup and maintenance needs, and the possibility for geographic expansion of the remote service. The findings highlight the diverse, individual needs of people living with dementia in group arts participation, while still prioritizing their motivations for participation including sense of community, structure, purpose, and combatting against feelings of isolation during the pandemic. Particularly successful remote activities gave opportunities for meaningful contribution and had a multitude of possibilities for access for PLWD.

Using technology to assist creative arts activities in dementia care

AbstractBackgroundAlongside a growing use of creative arts within community and residential settings to support the health and wellbeing of older adults living with dementia, is an increasing availability of technology, although development for this context has up till now been limited. To examine how technology might be used to meet the leisure, health, and wellbeing needs of people living with dementia, we conducted a scoping review to assess the current state of development of creative assistive technologies across various art‐forms.MethodOur research questions asked i) what are the arts‐based activities being delivered through technology for older adults living with dementia or mild cognitive impairment, and ii) what are the characteristics of technologies being used to enhance these arts‐based activities? A comprehensive search was conducted using PubMed, PsychINFO, Web of Science, Scopus and ACM Digital Library databases. Two raters independently screened titles and abstracts, rating whether articles fit our inclusion criteria. A total of 3762 records were retrieved, of which 51 articles were included after full‐text screening.ResultMusic (29), visual art (7), storytelling (6) and film‐making (2) were delivered through technology to older adults living with dementia. Other activities included dance (1), interactive light and sound (1), and incorporating arts activities into multi‐sensory objects (3). Two applications specifically allowed a choice between multiple creative arts (2). Single papers focused on Technologies were mainly custom‐made devices rather than applications using everyday devices such as smartphones or computers. Devices were often oriented towards individual use, supported by carers rather than groups of individuals at once, with fewer flexible in use alternate between solo/group. Outcomes measured were predominantly in terms of validating feasibility of the device and/or arts activity reported.ConclusionCurrent research concerning technology‐assisted creative arts activities for people living with dementia mainly demonstrates feasibility of new devices, indicating that the field in general is predominantly in the prototyping stage. Future research should consider device development past prototyping, and consider comparing devices across different art‐forms i.e, applications having a varied range of artforms which allow for individual needs and interests to be accommodated.

Can Creative Art Activities Contribute to Social Emotional Communication in Online Groups during the COVID 19 Pandemic?

In this paper, the authors review a single session in which a small group of participants from different countries within the Asian Pacific region used creative arts improvisation to develop collaborative expression of their subjective experiences during the COVID health crisis. During this review, the authors consider if meaningful communication could develop among the participants and how such exchanges might be expanded to contribute to communities and within an international context. The group was conducted online, and the members were from Guam, China and another woman from India currently studying in New Zealand. The improvisational expressions consisted of dance, vocal music, art, poetry, and fairy tale making followed by discussion. The general themes from this collection of images that emerged from the improvisations ranged from disconnection to positive connection towards each other and a renewal of hope. These developments occurred online and among people from different countries. Some of these participants did not know each other prior to the meeting and others did not share a primary language. The authors use this review to suggest some potential guidelines that might apply to other projects that address community responses to the current pandemic and possible cross-cultural connections during times of crisis.

The Role of Creative Placemaking

The Role of Creative Placemaking

City Symphony

City Symphony

Design, implementation, and reflections on a two-week virtual visual arts and medicine course for third- and fourth-year medical students

BackgroundMedical humanities courses that incorporate the visual arts traditionally require in-person instruction and visits to museums. The COVID-19 pandemic afforded medical educators a unique opportunity to implement and evaluate virtual visual arts programming.MethodsA two-week, 7-module visual arts and medicine elective course for third and fourth-year medical students was conducted virtually in the Spring of 2021. The course included traditional didactic components as well as a range of hands-on creative art activities including painting, graphic medicine, photovoice, and Kintsugi (Japanese craft). Digital tools including Canvas, Google Jamboard, and Zoom facilitated student engagement. Student feedback was collected through anonymous post-course surveys.ResultsWe successfully conducted a virtual visual arts and medicine elective which integrated hands-on creative art activities. Most students “strongly agreed” that remote instruction was sufficient to meet course objectives. However, all students also “agreed” that in-person instruction may promote more in-depth engagement with the visual arts. The hands-on creative art activities were appreciated by all students.ConclusionVisual arts-based medical humanities courses can be delivered virtually and can include hands-on creative art activities such as painting. Future visual arts and medicine courses may benefit from incorporating a range of pedagogical methodologies, digital tools, control groups, and pre−/post-course assessments.

Clinging to Children's Life and Winning the Fragrance of Local Land -- a Probe into Children's Creative Art Activities under the Folk Customs of the 24 Solar Terms

Clinging to Children's Life and Winning the Fragrance of Local Land -- a Probe into Children's Creative Art Activities under the Folk Customs of the 24 Solar Terms

Výtvarná edukácia v inkluzívnom prostredí

This article explores the issues of art education and creative art activities in a group of respondents within an inclusive setting. The aim of implemented art activities was to show artwork as a mean to for a persons with disabilities to socialize and express themself.

Creative Art: Connection to Health and Well-Being

This paper explores the association between creativity and health. We examined the literature to investigate if participating in creative arts such as dance and movement, music, visual art therapy, and creative writing has a beneficial effect on health and well-being. Recently, there has been an increased interest in studying how participatory and receptive arts can enhance wellness. Increasingly new research shows a correlation between creativity, improved feelings of well-being, and other positive health outcomes. Studies in this area indicate that engaging in creative arts brings about psychosocial, physiological, and behavioural responses that may help to decrease loneliness, depression, pain, and many other health-related issues. We reviewed and analyzed how creative arts can create channels for expressing emotions and improve physical, mental, and spiritual health. In this review, we define and discuss: 1) Creative Art Activities and Health; 2) Receptive and Participatory Engagement: Well-Being and Social Connectedness; 3) Health and Well-being in Later Stages of Life; 4) Art therapy and Children; 5) Creativity and Well-Being during COVID-19; 6) Specific Art Therapies and Their Beneficial Effects. We anticipate this review could underpin further research in health promotion. We also aim to encourage partnerships between the fields of health and creative arts to develop strategies to further their collaboration.

Therapeutic Recreation Activities Combined with a 12-Step Faith-Based Program for Adults Experiencing Addiction, Mental Health, and Homelessness: A Case Study

ABSTRACT The aim of this case study was to explore the changes in emotional well-being for 12 adult (13 males, 1 female) residents with addiction, mental health, and homelessness issues who participated in a program that combined recreation therapy complementary physical and creative arts activities followed by a 12-step Christian meeting, twice a week for 2 hours over a 6-week period. Results revealed a 27% reduction in anxiety and a decrease in perceived stress of 24%. Negative mood symptoms also reduced by 13%. Resiliency, positive mood, and enjoyment showed 9%, 4%, and 13% improvements respectively. Depression remaining unchanged. This program showed promise in improving common symptoms for adults experiencing addiction, mental health, and homelessness issues.

Thriving in adversity: Do life skills programs work for developing world children? A pragmatic randomized controlled trial

The severe adversity experienced by millions of children in the developing world leads to failure to thrive associated with cognitive deficits, emotional management problems, and social impairment. In this pragmatic randomized controlled trial, 909 children (aged 8–15 years) in India with disadvantaged backgrounds took part in a semistructured program involving sports or creative arts activities. The Life Skills Assessment Scale was used to assess the children's life skills before and after taking part in the program. Children who took part in the program showed significant increases in life skills following participation, compared to a control group. This study demonstrates the impact of simple, low-budget programs on cognitive, emotional, and social life skills that are typically delayed by severe adversity. The findings have clear implications for children in other adverse environments, such as conflict zones and settlements for displaced children resulting from war, natural disasters, and emergency events.

Dance for Health: The perceptions of healthcare professionals of the impact of music and movement sessions for older people in acute hospital settings.

To explore staff perceptions of the impact of weekly music and movement sessions involving older patients and staff on the wards where 'Dance for Health' sessions take place. Dance for Health is a programme of weekly group dance sessions, which take place on wards in an acute hospital setting. Recent research demonstrates the value of creative arts activities in clinical settings across the globe. However, there is little research exploring the impact of dance programmes for frail older people in acute hospital settings, or healthcare professionals' perceptions of the impact of these sessions on patients, staff and the ward environment. A qualitative descriptive approach was used. Twenty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff who had supported patients participating in Dance for Health and the ward managers where the sessions took place. Data analysis was undertaken using a thematic analysis approach. The sessions challenged staff assumptions about older patients' musical preferences and the level of physical activity patients were able to undertake. Staff felt that the shared experience and interactions within the group enhanced staff-patient relationships. Staff taking part in the sessions reported feeling pleasure seeing their patients enjoying themselves and valued being a part of delivering the sessions. The Dance for Health programme in an acute hospital setting has the potential to promote person-centred care through encouraging self-expression and individuality. It is a meaningful and enjoyable activity, which encourages physical activity and social interaction and enriches the aesthetic experience of the hospital environment. This is the first study reporting on the use of dance sessions for older people in an acute hospital setting. Dance for Health had a positive impact on staff attending the sessions and enhanced staff-patient relationships. Staff support is key for effective delivery.

Creativity in retirement: psychosocial experiences of recently retired people participating in a creative arts project.

A growing body of research literature features the provision of arts experiences for the older person but less attention has been given to those who are in the early years of retirement. This qualitative study aims to contribute to the existing field through exploring the contribution that creativity, in the form of active participation in the arts, can make upon the older person's transition to retirement. A total of 15 recently retired people in a Scottish town were invited to participate in a qualitative project which explored, using the creative arts, the participants' psychological and social experiences during this period of transition. The emphasis was on participants' active, rather than passive, involvement in different art modalities. An action research methodology was adopted, involving a circular flexible design. Qualitative information was generated through focus groups, participant observations and group discussions with participants attending arts workshops. Participants were also invited to record their thoughts and observations anonymously in written form. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Two co-researchers, who were recently retired people from outside the community, took part as participant observers. Key findings indicated that the need to feel challenged and stimulated was paramount for feelings of wellbeing. The feeling of belonging to a community was considered important and could be derived from creative arts activities. Psychological and social benefits of arts participation were derived from active participation, primarily in creating original work. Participants had disparate experience of arts but were united in their search for creative fulfilment. Implications for appropriate provision were considered.