Welcome to this regular newsletter from King’s College London, which aims to update the King’s community as well as friends and colleagues beyond the university on initiatives, issues and opportunities relevant to the field of arts, health and wellbeing. Should you wish to unsubscribe from this content you can do so at any point via the link in the footer of this email. If you have any comments, suggestions or content for future editions, please do get in touch via artshealthwellbeing@kcl.ac.uk.
This month’s Arts, Health & Wellbeing newsletter celebrates the coming of spring and with it renewal, growth and new energy to feed this important field of work. With lockdown measures now easing, it’s heartening to see plans emerging for more face-to-face cultural participation alongside the continuing development of innovative online platforms that are reaching so many isolated individuals and communities.
The theme of enhanced connection with community and trans-disciplinary working is clear to see in initiatives across the university and beyond. At King’s, People and the Pandemic celebrates the human stories behind King’s communities’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Community Art Network is launching a new platform with the purpose of enabling individuals, organisations and communities to create positive social change through cultural activities. The Culture Health and Wellbeing Alliance has published a new report with case studies and recommendations for arts interventions and wellbeing in hospitals, care homes, hospices and prisons amongst other institutions. The Creativity and Wellbeing Week will take place next month, coinciding with Mental Health Awareness Week, and in May the Arts and Health Hub will host their next conference, focused on the theme of care. | |
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People and the Pandemic People and the Pandemic, a collection of texts, quotations and podcasts highlights the human stories behind King’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and emphasises the many facets and interdisciplinary nature of pandemic problem-solving. Explore the outdoor installation on Guy’s Campus or the virtual gallery here. Community Art Network are launching a new platform Co-created by visionaries who believe that the powerful transformative qualities of the arts can be used for social impact, CAN is a platform that aims to enable, engage and empower individuals, organisations and communities through the arts and create unlikely alliances that generate meaningful change to shape a more humane future together. New report: How creativity and culture have been supporting people in institutions through the pandemic In partnership with Live Music Now, Music for Dementia, Music in Hospitals and Care, the National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance, the National Performance Advisory Group (NPAG) for Arts, Design and Heritage in Healthcare, Paintings in Hospitals and Performing Medicine, the Culture, Health & Wellbeing Alliance has published a new report and recommendations on reaching people resident in hospitals, care homes, hospices, prisons and other institutions during the pandemic. Research, Articles & Publications WE-Making: How Arts & Culture unite people to work toward community wellbeing WE-Making: How Arts & Culture unite people to work toward community wellbeing, shows that place-based arts and cultural practices, or creative placemaking, can help grow social cohesion to encourage community wellbeing. WE-Making breaks new ground by synthesising research from different areas of study along with on-the-ground experiences of artists and researchers, practitioners in community development, and advocates for health equity. The report distills information into key terms and concepts, demonstrating that social cohesion can lead to increased community wellbeing. Prescribe art and nature to improve wellbeing This paper describes the findings from an evaluation of a ‘creative green prescription’ programme held at Whitworth Park and the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester. Participation in the programme has resulted in increased feelings of wellbeing brought about by improved self-esteem, decreased social isolation and the formation of communities of practice. The impact of playback theatre on the mental health of older adults This paper describes the mental health impacts generated by a programme of playback theatre sessions for visitors to adult day centres in Israel. ‘Playback theatre is a form of improvisational theatre in which a group of actors creates a theatrical improvisation in response to a personal story’. The programme was effective in improving scores in the following validated mental health indices: ‘self-acceptance, personal growth, relationships with others, satisfaction with relationships, current well-being, positive affect, meaning in life, satisfaction with life, and self-esteem as well as depressive symptoms’. Resources, Funding & Events Creativity and Wellbeing Week Across spring and summer 2021, the Culture, Health & Wellbeing Alliance, Arts & Health South West, and London Arts in Health are coming together with many other partners to stage a series of events celebrating the power of creativity and culture to transform our health and wellbeing. The Creativity and Wellbeing Week will take place 17-23 May 2021 coinciding with this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week. Arts & Health Hub Conference: On Care The Arts & Health Hub will be hosting its first online conference in partnership with London Arts and Health on 22 May 2021. The conference is one of Creativity & Wellbeing Week’s key events focusing on the theme of care. This one-day online conference brings together an exciting mixture of interdisciplinary speakers, from artists, medics and researchers, discussing and sharing works on themes of care. Each speaker brings unique perspectives and reflections on how we care for ourselves, care for others and care for the world that we live in. ‘Arts and culture for health and wellbeing and inclusivity’ This session, convened by Tony Heaton OBE, Sculptor and Disability Activist, will explore contemporary practice in using collections to engage marginalised communities to promote equality, diversity and inclusion in relation to health and wellbeing. Practitioners from a variety of perspectives and disciplines will present their work and how they have used visual art, along with other art forms, to make collections serve a social purpose and be accessible to a wider audience. 29 April 2021, 15:00 - 17:00, online via Zoom. | |
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King’s Arts, Health & Wellbeing Hub aims to bring together the many initiatives and achievements across the university and create a network of colleagues interested in research and education at the interface between arts and health. Any feedback on this bulletin, or contributions for future editions, would be welcome.
To find out more about the Arts, Health & Wellbeing hub, feedback, suggest contributions or unsubscribe, please contact Nikki Crane, King’s Programme Lead for Arts, Health & Wellbeing via artshealthwellbeing@kcl.ac.uk |
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