A theoretical exploration of polyvagal theory in creative arts and psychomotor therapies for emotion regulation in stress and trauma.

Polyvagal theory advocates for working with the body, becoming aware of the body and connecting with the senses. Similarly, paying attention to and influencing one's physical and sensory experience is a core aspect of the creative arts and psychomotor therapies. Polyvagal theory offers opportunities for strengthening resilience by treating emotion-regulation problems, stress, and trauma, as well as restoring regulation of the autonomic nervous system. Paying attention to and influencing physical and sensory experiences are core aspects of creative arts and psychomotor therapies. This theoretical paper explores how polyvagal theory can serve as a foundational theory and support the creative arts and psychomotor therapies for emotion regulation in stress and trauma. A number of pillars in polyvagal theory have links with arts therapies, such as an emphasis on physical and sensory experience in situations of safety or threat. This theory may offer insight into the role of the body in stressful situations, the role of co-and self-regulation, and thus the functioning of and the rationale for use of creative arts and psychomotor therapies. Through interventions focused on promoting healthy autonomic responses and regulating physiological responses, clients can learn to better regulate and process their emotional experiences. Although this could be broadly useful, it would seem particularly promising in therapies focused on stress and trauma. This article provides an introduction to polyvagal theory and outlines how it can serve as an explanatory, hypothetical model for the working mechanisms that underlie creative arts and psychomotor therapies. The application of PVT in creative arts and psychomotor therapies will be explored by describing techniques for "noticing and naming" and "learning to change," as well as by highlighting the role of PVT in the therapeutic relationship. It provides case examples and discusses the role of creative arts and psychomotor therapies for stress regulation and resilience conceptualized in line with the polyvagal theory.

'Talking lines': the stories of diagnosis and support as told by those with lived experience of rare forms of dementia.

BACKGROUND: People living with, or caring for someone with, rare forms of dementia can encounter issues while obtaining a diagnosis and trying to access appropriate support. This can affect their wellbeing, quality of life, social relationships and employment status. This study makes use of an arts-based narrative approach to explore individual accounts of these experiences whilst also exploring how, in telling their stories, those affected by rare forms of dementia might invoke, and situate their stories in relation to, broader cultural narratives around dementia and illness. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted via video-conferencing software with participants (N = 27), living with, or caring for someone with, a rare forms of dementia. Participants used line drawings to depict their journey from initial symptoms to the present day, followed by prompts to verbally narrate their experiences. All interview transcripts and line drawings were subjected to narrative analysis. Four sets of transcripts and drawings were then subjected to more in-depth analysis. RESULTS: Analysis shed light on the struggles encountered by both care-partners and people with a diagnosis, while navigating a health and social care system that does not always understand their needs. This often led to individuals feeling isolated and unsupported. Accounts also depicted challenges to identity brought on by the process. The moment of diagnosis was also drawn in a complicated light. Individuals found comfort in gaining understanding, but felt fear at recognising upcoming challenges. Participants situated their own accounts against mainstream cultural narratives around what good support for cognitive impairment and dementia might look like, whilst also demonstrating the influential role they took on in pursuing the right care. CONCLUSIONS: The use of line drawing, alongside narrative interviews, allowed participants to tell complicated, sometimes anachronistic, stories about difficult experiences, whilst also reflecting on, and attaching meaning to, them. These stories highlighted pressing gaps in healthcare services and shone a light on the various pieces of collective action individuals were engaged in in order to improve them. Finally, in modelling some elements of the participants' service provision which were working, the narratives pointed to future directions services might move in.

Testing the potential therapeutic effects of an online creative arts-based intervention for people with anxiety.

BACKGROUND: Creative arts-based interventions are a relatively new addition to the toolkit of psychological treatments for mental afflictions. As such, the therapeutic efficacy of these therapies when conducted remotely via digital media has been under-researched. To address this gap, this study tested the effects of an online creative arts-based intervention to alleviate anxiety. METHOD: A repeated measures quasi-experimental design was employed on a sample of British adults (N = 41). Data were collected using pre- and post-intervention scores on the General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) and Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing (WEMWBS) scales. RESULTS: Inferential analysis procedures consisting of multiple tests for within-subjects effects all showed significantly lower levels of anxiety and higher levels of mental wellbeing post-intervention. CONCLUSION: Whilst additional confirmatory and longitudinal research is needed, the results of this exploratory study tentatively indicate that creative arts-based "interventions" delivered through digital media may be effective in substantively reducing common symptoms of anxiety.

Prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and associated factors among professional orchestra musicians in Norway.

BACKGROUND: Orchestra musicians have a high risk of experiencing musculoskeletal problems. These problems may lead to sleep and psychological disturbance. OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the occurrence of musculoskeletal pain (MSP) among orchestra musicians and the coherence between pain and predictors such as gender, age and instrument. Further, the impact of pain on sleep and mental health was analysed to assess pain as a predictor threatening musicians' wellbeing. METHODS: Some 358 musicians in eight different professional orchestras in Norway completed a questionnaire. Questions about pain experienced within the last 30 days were based on a national survey. Standardised screening tools like the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25) and Bergen Insomnia Scale (BIS) were used to assess psychological distress and sleeping problems. Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to analyse the differences in the pain-related variables: experienced pain severity (EPS), number of pain areas, and work being perceived as the source of pain based on age. Mann-Whitney U tests were conducted to evaluate the statistical significance between gender and the pain-related variables. Spearman's rank correlations were used to examine the relationship between EPS and BIS, HSCL-25 and pain area. Additionally, simple linear regression models were employed to determine whether EPS can predict higher scores on the HSCL-25 and BIS scales. RESULTS: The prevalence of MSP experienced in the last 30 days among orchestra musicians in Norway was 85%. Musicians experienced frequent pain regardless of their gender, age or instrument group. Neck, shoulders and upper back represented the most reported pain areas. Further, it was observed that increased EPS was correlated with an increase in the number of pain areas and in work being perceived as the source of pain. EPS significantly predicted sleep- and psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS: Orchestra musicians have a high risk of encountering MSP. Furthermore, their psychological distress and sleeping problems seem to be related to experienced MSP. To deliver optimal health, these problems should be handled simultaneously.

"Breaking through the Brokenness": An Arts-Based Qualitative Exploration of Pregnant Women's Experience of Intimate Partner Violence while Receiving Trauma- and Violence-Informed Antenatal Care.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive, worldwide public health concern. Risk of IPV may elevate during the perinatal period, increasing maternal and fetal health risks. Trauma- and violence-informed care shows promise among interventions addressing associated mental health sequelae. As a secondary analysis, the purpose of this study was to employ a qualitative arts-based exploration to better understand pregnant women's experiences of trauma and violence-informed perinatal care in the context of IPV. Using an arts-based qualitative methodology, different art forms were used to analyze, interpret, and report data, resulting in a layered exploration to represent phenomena. From this, four themes were reflected in four poetic pieces: Black Deep Corners, Triggering my Thoughts, Breaking through the Brokenness, and Now Perfectly Imperfect. Nine pieces of visual art were created reflecting these themes, creating a layered, embodied, artistic way to empathically explore and translate phenomena.

Exploring arts-health ecologies in the very remote Barkly Region of Australia.

INTRODUCTION: This article explores links between arts, health, and wellbeing for diverse First Nations and non-Indigenous peoples living in the very remote Barkly Region of the Northern Territory in Australia. The article stems from a major 3-year study of the Barkly arts sector conducted in partnership with Barkly Regional Arts and Regional Development Australia Northern Territory. Key findings relate to an arts-health ecology evident in the region, the interdependence between artists' own health and their arts activity, the value of arts spaces as places of safety and refuge, and the potential of the arts to promote cultural and intercultural healing and development. We discuss these findings in the context of relevant literature and make suggestions for future arts-health and wellbeing related research, policy and practice in rural and remote contexts. METHODS: This study employed an ecological mixed-methods research design, including quantitative and qualitative survey and interview data collection as well as collaborative, data-driven thematic analysis. The ecological approach was used to map a variety of creative practices through a broad range of art forms. Commercial, amateur and subsidised art and creative practices were included in this study and represented the multicultural population of the Barkly Region (both First Nations and non-Indigenous peoples). Arts and creativity in the region were recognized as a complex ecology that saw individuals, businesses, organisations and government working in different ways to sustain culture and contribute to social and economic development. RESULTS: Research participants from diverse cultural backgrounds recognised health and wellbeing benefits of arts and creative activity. Arts participation and engagement were reported to have intrinsic individual health and wellbeing effects such as mental health and mindfulness, emotional regulation, enjoyment, and relief of physical and emotional pain and stress alongside promoting spiritual connection to self, culture and community. The study indicates that the arts can also shape powerful determinants of health and wellbeing such as employment, poverty, racism, social inclusion, and natural and built environments. Barkly arts-health ecology featured extensive involvement from health and human service and arts organisations, which provided a strong foundation for inclusive, healing and holistic regional development. CONCLUSION: This study has outlined how arts and creative activity contribute to holistic regional development in the Barkly desert region, an area with a high percentage of First Nations peoples. Arts and creative activity were reported to have intrinsic health and wellbeing effects for individuals, which included mental health and mindfulness, emotional regulation, enjoyment, and relief of physical and emotional pain and stress as well as promoting spiritual connection to self, others and environment. Arts activities were also seen to shape powerful determinants of health and wellbeing such as employment, poverty, racism, social inclusion, and natural and built environments.

What Got Us Here Won't Get Us There: Critical History in Radical Black Re-imaginations of Canadian Nursing Histories.

As a "foursome" of nursing history students and scholars, upcoming, junior, and seasoned, we presented a panel on new work and possibilities related to histories of Blackness and Black nurses in Canadian nursing history. Our presentation was the 2023 keynote Hannah Panel Presentation for the joint Canadian Society for the History of Medicine (CSHM-SCHM) and the Canadian Association for the History of Nursing (CAHN-ACHN) conference. Reflecting and expanding our perspectives, we share the relevance and significance of engaging with histories of Canadian Blackness and (in)visibility of Blackness in nursing history. This paper considers the overarching question of how does engaging with histories of Canadian Blackness serve as an anti-racist strategy when examining, analyzing and understanding the history of nursing and health care? A core tenant of this work aims at acknowledging how institutional relationships of power are reproduced within scholarship unless there is space for radical re-imaginations. The disruption to power is achieved by exploring the connections between nursing and history from the perspective of Black nurses' history or Black feminist thought. We also disrupt power by our form, in challenging expectations of scientific inquiry as the only format of valid knowledge production within the discipline. Possibilities of arts-based methodology as a site for democratization in nursing knowledge are evoked through the metaphoric language (water, fire, air and earth) interwoven within the text. We highlight how each of us engages with nursing history, further complicating previous narratives of our collective Canadian past. In publishing our thoughts on historical inquiry in a nursing journal, we hope to provoke more curiosity and interest in history within our discipline as a site for liberation!

Theatre, disability and wellbeing: addressing best practice and creative outcomes across disabled and non-disabled communities through an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.

BACKGROUND: In the context of ongoing underrepresentation of disabled people and shifts in the theatre industry, this article examines the significance of personal disability understandings and how these are interpreted in relation to the wellbeing of disabled people in theatre. METHODS: The findings presented are part of an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis; an interdisciplinary study detailing experiences of theatre practice and disability among professional actors and directors in theatres that are funded by Arts Council England. RESULTS: One of the six emergent themes from interviews, Navigating Inexperience of Disability in Theatre, assists in considering disability understandings and aspects of actors' wellbeing in this article. It details interpersonal and emotional competencies required of disabled people in day-to-day practice; these relate to confidence, risk, empathy, compromise, value, and contribution. CONCLUSIONS: Routes to building accessibility in theatre are proposed as a shared and personal endeavour; value is placed on learning from disability as crucial in preserving wellbeing, creativity, and effective arts practices across disabled and non-disabled communities.

The physical and psychosocial benefits of a family judo program for parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) tend to have high levels of stress and poor health habits. There is a lack of interventions that focus on improving health outcomes in parents of children with ASD. OBJECTIVE: To examine the physical and psychosocial effects of a family-based judo program on parents of children diagnosed with ASD. METHODS: This study utilized a pre-post single group design. Eighteen parent-child dyads participated in a 14-week judo program for families of children with ASD. Judo sessions were held once a week for 45 min. Parents wore wrist accelerometers to assess physical activity/sleep quality, and completed surveys regarding self-reported stress levels pre- and post-judo. Parents also completed open-ended questions regarding their experience in the program. Paired sample t-tests were conducted to examine changes in stress, physical activity, and sleep quality from pre-to post-program. RESULTS: Both a decrease in parental stress (47.77 vs. 41.61, p < 0.01) and an increase in minutes per day of physical activity (35.49 vs 45.94, p = 0.002) were observed from baseline to post-program. Fourteen of the 18 parents (78 %) reported at least one psychosocial benefit (e.g. increased self-confidence) or physical health benefit (e.g. increased physical activity) from participation in the program. CONCLUSIONS: A family judo program may provide health benefits, such as reducing stress levels and increasing physical activity in parents of children with ASD. Further research involving larger sample sizes is necessary to better determine the effects of judo on both parents and their children with ASD.

Decolonising research and folk media: a methodology for Exploring narratives of HIV and AIDS in rural Malawi.

BACKGROUND: In Malawi, well-meaning HIV and AIDS interventions imagined in the "Global North" continue to ignore how local people construct the world. This paper explores how folk media can be used to enable research on HIV and AIDS to be positioned within localised cultural paradigms. METHODS: Drawing on Chewa epistemology, I used folk media methods supported by participant observation. The research was conducted in three phases over 15 days in two rural communities and captured the workshop processes, participants' process reviews, verbal journals and creative outputs through pictures, audio and video recordings, field notes and reflections. Data was analysed thematically. FINDING: Folk media can be used to structure research, to facilitate a conducive environment for research practice, as data and as a method for the generation of data/knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: Folk media can be a strong, replicable, culturally grounded, decolonizing research methodology that promotes collaboration and the deconstruction of power relations.

Does a participatory live music practice support nurses to deliver compassionate care to hospitalised patients? A qualitative study.

AIM: To gain more insight into how nurses experience a participatory live music practice in relation to their ability to deliver compassionate care to medically hospitalised patients. DESIGN: Qualitative interpretive design. METHODS: Sixteen nurses participating in a live music practice with patients were interviewed using in-depth interviews with open-ended questions. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and subsequently coded. Theory-driven inductive and deductive approaches were applied in thematic data analysis. RESULTS: We identified four themes: (1) Nurses' empathy and compassion; (2) The caring nurse-patient relationship; (3) Person-centred approaches to care and (4) Nurses' subjective wellbeing. By observing patients' reactions to the music, nurses described that they obtained a deeper insight and understanding of patients' emotional wellbeing. These observations led to increased feelings of compassion in patient contact and stimulated informal communication between nurses and patients through a sense of shared humanity. According to nurses, these aspects positively affected collaboration with patients in delivering care and stimulated them to pursue person-centred approaches to care. Participating in the live music practice also positively affected nurses' wellbeing, enhanced relaxation and created an ambiance in which compassion could be expressed. CONCLUSION: A live music practice can positively contribute to the delivery of compassionate care by providing meaningful shared moments that increase feelings of empathy and compassion and strengthen the caring relationship. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION: Offering a live music practice at the ward and bedside offers a unique possibility to enhance engagement in person-centred, compassionate care. IMPACT: While compassion and compassionate care are essential component of nursing, nurses often experience multiple barriers to its provision in daily practice. An innovative way to stimulate compassionate care is through the participation of nurses and patients in a live music practice, providing a meaningful moment shared between them. This stimulates feelings of shared humanity and bonding in the caring relationship. REPORTING METHOD: The COnsolidated criteria for REporting Qualitative research (COREQ). No Patient or Public Contribution.

Factors influencing perseverance in teaching Chinese martial arts abroad: a self-determination theory perspective among international instructors.

Background: The global dissemination of Chinese martial arts (CMAs), transcends mere physical activity; it represents a cultural and philosophical journey that contributes to enhanced psychological well-being. Capturing international attention, CMAs have engendered a network of global instructors committed to their cross-cultural teaching. However, the narrative of CMAs across the globe is incomplete without understanding the psychological factors that fuel the perseverance of these international instructors. Their relentless commitment, motivated by factors beyond the cultural and geographical barriers, poses a unique question: What motivates these instructors to persist in teaching CMAs in the face of such challenges? The study aims to uncover the key motivational mechanisms that influence the perseverance of international CMAs instructors in their teaching endeavors. Methods: Employing Self-Determination Theory, 147 international CMAs instructors completed the Motivation for Teaching CMAs Scale, Perceived Belonging Scale, and Perseverance in Teaching CMAs Scale. SPSS 20.0 was utilized for conducting descriptive statistics, common method bias tests, and correlation analyses. Structural equation modeling was performed using AMOS 26.0. Results: Autonomous Motivation positively affected perseverance in teaching CMAs (ß = 0.369, b = 0.465, t = 4.232, p < 0.001). In contrast, Amotivation negatively affected perseverance (ß = -0.323, b = -0.382, t = -3.561, p < 0.001). Neither Controlled Motivation nor Sense of Belonging significantly affected perseverance. The model explained 27.9% of the variance in perseverance, offering insights into the motivational mechanisms influencing international CMAs instructors. Conclusion: This study concludes that the perseverance of international instructors in teaching CMAs is primarily driven by overcoming amotivation and fostering autonomous motivation, rather than short-term internal or external incentives, which appear ineffective. Additionally, sense of belonging to their CMA school does not significantly influence their perseverance, potentially due to the diverse cultural backgrounds of the instructors surveyed. The findings suggest that by enhancing the recognition and acceptance of CMAs' core philosophies and values, aligning teaching practices with personal and cultural values, and fostering a profound passion for CMAs, international instructors could boost their autonomous motivation, which is crucial for their sustained commitment in promoting CMAs globally.

Exploring uses of visual arts-based interventions for mental health of marginalized populations: a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: The intentions of this scoping review are to determine current uses of visual arts-based interventions for mental health and trauma support of marginalized populations, and to identify current gaps in knowledge in this emergent field. METHOD: Six databases (MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, PsycINFO, JSTOR) were searched for relevant studies. Following the PRISMA guidelines, 38 articles met the inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Most interventions focused on improving the mental health of participants, or to provide opportunities for participants to process their experiences of mental health. Participants reported increased well-being, experiences of relaxation and/or distraction, and processing of mental health experiences. They perceived arts-based interventions as helpful and developed mutual social support with other participants. CONCLUSION: Arts-based interventions have the potential to inform the development of culturally safe and relevant mental health care for marginalized populations beyond current mainstream mental health practices.