In recent decades there has been a significant increase in community rehabilitation programs for people with mental health conditions. One such nationwide programs is Amitim in Israel whose mission is to foster the psychosocial rehabilitation of people with mental health conditions in the community. Amitim’s flagship program consists of arts-based groups that integrate participants with mental health conditions and non-clinical community members. To better understand the experiences of participants in these arts-based groups, five focus groups were conducted with participants from 15 integrated arts-based groups. In total, 17 people with mental health conditions and 21 non-clinical community members were interviewed for this qualitative study. Three main themes emerged from the thematic analysis: creation and expression through the arts promote well-being, self-disclosure in a safe space encourages a sense of belonging, and “we are all in the same boat.” The participants underscored the role of creation and expression through the arts in facilitating emotional expression, self-discovery, interpersonal communication, and spiritual elevation. The findings suggest that the facilitators should instill a sense of equality by enabling intergroup acquaintances without labeling participants’ mental health status. Integrated arts-based groups should be accompanied by a mental health professional who can contain and work through complex emotional situations when needed. Arts therapists who specialize in both arts and mental health are particularly suitable for this role. Overall, the interviewees reported that participation in the integrated arts-based groups positively impacted their personal recovery processes by providing a corrective experience of equality as well as enhancing a sense of belonging to the community and social relationships. The participants also reported being empowered by the final artistic event that not only enhanced their sense of visibility, competence, and aspirations for future development in personal, interpersonal, and artistic realms, but also helped to combat both self- and public stigma.

Two of the most prominent challenges faced by people with mental health conditions (MHCs) are experiencing stigma and personal recovery. This study focused on the analysis of baseline data from registrants for integrated arts-based groups in a nationwide psychosocial rehabilitation program in Israel. The aim of the study was to examine the possible associations between self-stigma, personal recovery and creative self-efficacy (CSE) in people with MHCs, and the associations between public stigma, desire for social distance, familiarity with mental illness and CSE in community members. Cross-sectional data were collected by online survey software in October-November 2017 from 114 people with MHCs and 117 community members who enrolled in 15 integrated arts-based groups, and 68 people with MHCs who were not enrolled in integrated groups. The main findings suggest that individuals with MHCs who reported high self-stigma also reported a low sense of personal recovery and low CSE. The CSE of those with MHCs correlated positively with their personal recovery. Among community members, high public stigma was associated with a greater desire for social distance in women, but less contact with MHCs in men. Individuals with MHCs who had previously participated in integrated arts-based groups reported greater personal recovery than those who had not. Community members reported higher CSE and public stigma than the CSE and self-stigma of individuals with MHCs. The findings help characterise both individuals with MHCs and non-clinical community members who decide to enrol in integrated groups, as well as individuals with MHCs who chose not to enrol, enabling similar community-based programs to better identify their conditions and meet their needs.Future research should examine the contribution of integrated arts-based groups to promoting recovery and reducing stigma. K E Y W O R D S arts, community mental health, contact, creative self-efficacy, psychiatric rehabilitation, recovery, stigma | 1231 NITZAN ANd ORKIBI

The two major challenges facing people with mental health conditions (MHCs) are stigma and discrimination. This study focused on the Amitim program’s nationwide integrated arts-based groups that not only aim to impart knowledge and skills in the arts (e.g., theater, writing, music, poetry, visual art, etc.) but also reduce public and self-stigma, and promote personal recovery. This study, composed of a sample of 642 Israeli adults, examined whether people with MHCs and nonclinical community members who attended the integrated groups would report greater adaptive changes in outcomes than those who did not participate, the association of change process factors and in-group factors with these outcomes, and candidate mediators in the association between participation in the groups and the outcomes. The findings showed that change in creative self-efficacy (CSE) significantly predicted adaptive change in outcomes in people with MHCs who participated in these integrated arts-based groups. Participants with MHCs in groups facilitated by arts therapists reported significantly more positive outcomes than participants in groups with facilitators from other professional human services. Nonclinical community members in the integrated groups reported higher postprogram CSE and less desire for social distance from people with MHCs compared with the control group. Finally, change in the desire for social distance significantly mediated the relationship between group participation and change in public stigma. Overall, direct intergroup contact while engaging in arts-based activities appears to be a promising way to promote positive changes in people with MHCs and nonclinical community members. The implications and future directions are discussed.