Learning to feel well at Jamtli Museum: A case study

Abstract

Approximately one-fourth of the population of Sweden will suffer from mental health problems at some point in their lives. This article shares a case study of collaboration between Jamtli Museum and a local hospital (K2) that aimed to provide adult learning opportunities for people with diverse mental health issues. Findings show some differences between how women and men experienced the visits, as well as a marked increase in participants' confidence, social skills and senses of well-being. New knowledge gained on historical agriculture, as well as skills through working experientially with animals, changed how participants viewed their own capabilities and competencies. As a result, cultural heritage organisations such as Jamtli need to be seen as important pedagogical sites that contribute in multiple ways to human well-being.

Silence or Sanism: A Review of the Dearth of Discussions on Mental Illness in Adult Education

“…Museums are cultural sites of (in)formal (incidental) lifelong learning (Park & Hamilton;Hansen, 2016). Museums that partner with psychiatric hospitals create pathways for madpersons to wander from the cold, isolating wards and corridors of the 'madhouse' to a calm, steadying environment (Hansen, 2016). Pa-tients reminisced how day trips or brief two to three hour junkets steadied their minds and broadened their intellectual horizons (Park & Hamilton, 2010), and normalized some patients through engagement with 'normative' society (Hansen, 2016).…”

“…Three articles were nested within ILJ on adult learners exiting education to address mental health woes (McHugh, 2015), the omission of rehabilitation supports in community and AE (O'Brien, 2007), and gaps in educational provision to disenfranchised adults (Shannon, 2005). Two articles were found in JACE canvassing cultural education in nineteenth-century asylums (Park & Hamilton, 2010), and psychiatric patients learning by visiting museums (Hansen, 2016). Two articles were located in AJAL relating depression as an 'undiscussable' in IT organizations (Davies, 2008), and organizational learning about depression (Davies, 2006).…”

“…The authors historicized the pedagogy 'of the moral treatment of the insane', a tradition that (re)humanizes the way psycomplexes ('psy' professionals) dispense care and humanity to inmates. Mad excursions beyond the walls of the asylum were permitted to attend cultural events such as that of museums (Park & Hamilton, 2010;Hansen, 2016). Museums are cultural sites of (in)formal (incidental) lifelong learning (Park & Hamilton;Hansen, 2016).…”

“…Mad excursions beyond the walls of the asylum were permitted to attend cultural events such as that of museums (Park & Hamilton, 2010;Hansen, 2016). Museums are cultural sites of (in)formal (incidental) lifelong learning (Park & Hamilton;Hansen, 2016). Museums that partner with psychiatric hospitals create pathways for madpersons to wander from the cold, isolating wards and corridors of the 'madhouse' to a calm, steadying environment (Hansen, 2016).…”

“…This review shows that ally researchers have opted to give voice to consumers/survivors/ex-patients, those who have experienced mental illness, rather than their 'sane' counterparts' secondhand accounts. Many of the papers uncovered in this review involved participants whom experienced the mental health system (e.g., Ledger & Slade, 2015;Hansen, 2016, Escueta & Butterwick, 2012Fernando, 2016;Piggot & Houghton, 2007;McHugh, 2015;Kassab & Prins, 2013;Westwood, 1991;Hamilton, 1984;Park & Hamilton, 2010;Cameron, 2011;2014a;Clover & Craig, 2009;and Rykov, 2006). Few papers researched the neurotypical viewpoint (e.g., Davies, 2006;, Dobmeier & Moran, 2008Stenfors-Hayes et al, 2008).…”