Expanding arts therapies provision: a pilot project in Older Adult Mental Health Services, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the report is to summarise the progress made during a six-month pilot project expanding arts therapies provision from an inpatient service to community services, in a National Health Service health board's Older Adult Mental Health Services, in response to the need for direct therapy with older adults who have severe cognitive impairment and communication difficulties arising from dementia and/or complex mental health difficulties. STUDY DESIGN: This is a case report on a pilot project. METHODS: The level of need for the service was explored, and indicators of effectiveness were gathered using evaluation forms-observer feedback forms and ARM-5 (Agnew Relationship Measure - 5) - to indicate the therapeutic alliance, team review and feedback from colleagues. RESULTS: To gather indications about the level of need, we recorded the following: number of referrals (n = 125) and waiting list numbers at the end of the project (n = 34). CONCLUSIONS: This pilot project indicates that there is need for psychological interventions in older adult community mental health services that arts therapies provision can help address. The number of referrals is one indicator of the level of need, and positive feedback from clients, families and colleagues, is an indicator that the team delivered effectively. The areas of client need addressed in sessions as documented in observer feedback forms indicate that for these clients, arts therapies was a valuable resource in addressing challenges arising from mental health difficulties and/or dementia.

Art intervention among Finnish older people and their caregivers: Experiences of art pedagogies.

The benefits of art therapies on older people's health have been well documented. However, studies into the perspectives of pedagogues on conducting arts interventions are scarce and no empirical evidence of the views of professional pedagogues views have been published to date. In this study, seven professional art pedagogues were interviewed using a thematic interview approach focusing on the pedagogues' experiences of conducting arts interventions with a family caregiver and care recipient dyads. The interviews were analysed inductively using thematic content analysis. According to the analysis, three intersecting themes were found that both steered the pedagogical process and emerged from the process: holistic pedagogy, professional development and witnessing. The themes revealed a further understanding of approaches to the interviewees' teaching and the value of participatory community arts in practice. The pedagogues' experiences encourage art pedagogy to be acknowledged in a wider context within communities and healthcare environments. Further studies on interdisciplinary projects in collaboration with art pedagogues and healthcare professionals are encouraged.

Museum Moving to Inpatients: Le Louvre à l'Hôpital.

Anxiety and depressive symptoms are common in hospitalized patients. Arts and cultural programs were reported to enhance their quality of life. The Le Louvre à l'hôpital study presents a new approach in which the museum moves to the hospital by displaying and discussing artworks with patients interactively. Over one year, four large statues were disposed in the hospital gardens, 30 reprints of large painting were exhibited in the hospital hall, dining rooms, and circulations areas. A total of 83 small-group guided art discussions (90 min) were organized, which 451 patients attended. The 200 small-size reproductions of paintings placed in the patients' rooms were chosen based on their individual preferences. Decreased anxiety after the art sessions was reported by 160 of 201 patients (79.6%). Out of 451 patients, 406 (90%) said the art program had met their expectations, and 372 (82.4%) wished to continue the experience with caregivers (162 paramedics trained for art activity during 66 workshops). In conclusion, moving the museum to the hospital constitutes a valuable way to provide art activities for inpatients in large numbers, which may reduce hospital-related anxiety in many instances.

Expressive Arts Therapy with Hospitalized Children: A Pilot Study of Co-Creating Healing Sock Creatures©.

A novel form of expressive arts therapy was developed in a pediatric unit and received enthusiastic support from hospital staff and family members because of their impressions that the children were calmer following therapy, as well as throughout the remainder of the hospital stay. A pilot study was conducted to assess the feasibility of quantifying such impressions by measuring changes in the children's mood by self-report. Twenty-five children (mean age 8.34 years, SD 3.77) were recruited for the study, coming from diverse social-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, and an array of medical diagnoses. The results document improvements in mood for children following therapy sessions, compared to children in a wait-list control group. Additionally, a meta-analysis examining external influences and changes in salivary cortisol levels measured before and after therapy sessions illustrates the importance of considering aspects of the clinical setting when assessing the effectiveness of this and other expressive arts therapies for reducing stress during hospitalization.

[The role of art therapy in the rehabilitation of psycho-socially disabled people]. / A mövészetterápia szerepe a pszichoszociális fogyatékkal élok rehabilitációjában.

The present review focuses on the generally accepted and applied community psychiatry based models of psycho-social rehabilitation. The basics of the Strenghts model and the Recovery based model are introduced in this paper. Both models can be assisted by art therapy in various ways. The forms and the therapeutic factors of art therapy are also discussed, as well as the effects of the creating experience during the art therapy sessions. The authors introduce the good practice of the Moravcsik Foundation with highlights in two special areas that are beyond the generally applied art therapy work and representing important support in reaching the goals set during the rehabilitation process. Further, the authors describe the Budapest Art Brut Gallery and the PsychArt24 art marathon project in details.

A quasi-experimental evaluation of a community-based art therapy intervention exploring the psychosocial health of children affected by HIV in South Africa.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy of the Make A Difference about Art programme, a community art programme in South Africa for children affected by HIV and AIDS, which aims to reduce psychosocial problems by increasing self-esteem, self-efficacy and HIV insight. METHODS: A quasi-experimental cross-sectional post-intervention survey of 297 children aged 8-18 years (177 programme attendees and a control group of 120). Participants completed an inventory comprising standardized, validated psychosocial measures of depression, emotional and behavioural problems, self-esteem and self-efficacy and key sociodemographic variables potentially relevant as risk and protective factors. RESULTS: Attending the intervention was predictive of significantly higher self-efficacy, but was not associated with differences in self-esteem, depression, or emotional/behavioural problems. This association remained in the multivariate analysis, controlling for potential confounders. Double parental death exerted a powerful effect on child psychosocial health, eliminating the association between intervention attendance and higher self-efficacy. However, an interaction was found between bereavement status and intervention attendance on child self-efficacy, indicating that the intervention programme may ameliorate some of the psychosocial vulnerabilities associated with becoming an orphan. Other key risk factors for poor psychosocial health in this sample were AIDS-related stigma and community and household violence. Social connection emerged as a key protective factor. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that such interventions may offer opportunities to increase the self-efficacy of vulnerable children to protect their psychological health.

The history of the founding of Societe de Psychopathologie de L'Expression (SIPE) and the early development.

The Societe de Psychopathologie de L'Expression (SIPE) was founded in 1959 in Verona, Italy, during the International Congress on Lombroso. Robert Volmat asked us to get together for discussing the possibility of establishing a society for the research of the art of the insane. The author introduces the most important events and publications after the initiation of the research on the psychopathology of expression.

[The creation of an art workshop within a hospital]. / La création d'un atelier d'arts plastiques en intra-hospitalier.

Organising an arts activity within a hospital unit is not simple. But if it is well thought out and forms part of a healthcare process, it can have an important role to play. An example at Montperrin hospital in Aix-en-Provence.

Does prescribing participation in arts help to promote recovery for mental health clients?

BACKGROUND: Although recovery has become the focus of mental health policy in the UK, few models of practice show how mentalhealth nurses may promote recovery through participatory arts. AIM: To explore the experiences of people who engaged with an arts on prescription programme. METHOD: This study used narrative inquiry and participants were interviewed three times over one year. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Participants clearly benefited, especiallyin terms of having a "safe place" to come to, and from making new friends and experiencing peer support. It also enabled some to access education an d voluntarywork. CONCLUSION: Engaging with community based arts activities may provide opportunities for clients to make friends, become more socially engaged and have a greater sense of belonging.

Arts on prescription: a review of practice in the U.K.

The current levels of psychosocial distress in society are significant, as evidenced by the number of prescribed antidepressants and the numbers of working days lost as a result of stress and anxiety. There is a growing body of evidence that active involvement in creative activities provides a wide range of benefits, including the promotion of well-being, quality of life, health and social capital. In the U.K. there are currently a number of projects operating that offer Arts on Prescription for people experiencing mental health problems and social isolation. The purpose of such schemes is not to replace conventional therapies but rather to act as an adjunct, helping people in their recovery through creativity and increasing social engagement. Although the schemes are varied in their approaches and settings, the common theme is that there is a referral process and creative activities take place in the community facilitated by artists rather than therapists. This paper explores whether such schemes can be part of the solution to the current challenge of mental ill-health, and looks at the evidence supporting the value of such schemes which may influence government, funders and healthcare professionals to implement Arts on Prescription more widely.

Art therapy: promoting wellbeing in rural and remote communities.

Art therapy encompasses both preventative and curative activities and aims to improve ways of engaging those who might be reticent in seeking more traditional forms of psychological support offered through 'talking therapies'. The Longreach base of the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Queensland provides mental health support to people living in rural and remote locations in central western Queensland and has been complemented since 2006 by the addition of a full-time art therapist. This paper provides an overview of art therapy and a description of this innovative approach to addressing mental health needs in a rural and remote setting.

Pride and performance: evaluation challenges of a multimedia and information technologies project in remote Aboriginal Australia.

OBJECTIVES: This paper explores an approach to an evaluation challenge: to demonstrate the impact of an initiative drawing on innovative use of information/multimedia technology and performance to address perceived social needs within a disadvantaged, remote Indigenous Australian community. RESULTS: The approach is described and preliminary data are presented supporting the importance of local production and participation.