Reading as participatory art: An alternative mental health therapy

Billington, Josie; Davis, Philip; Farrington, Grace

doi:10.1386/jaac.5.1.25_1

Cited by 27 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…• Groups for Mersey Care NHS Trust service users, led by a trained Reader in Residence, and also training NHS staff to grow a lasting reading-group culture 7 .…”

Section: Therapeutically Relevant Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Billington and colleagues hypothesised that group reading should bring improvement in the areas of social, mental/ educational, and emotional/psychological wellbeing, and found qualitative evidence of improvements across all areas, including: enhanced concentration, interest in learning, self-awareness, and capacity for self-expression; increased confidence; reduced sense of isolation 2 . Similarly, the Mersey Care initiative, assessed in a Merseyside Service User Evaluation, documented 'improvements in confidence, self-esteem, self-expression, memory, concentration, creativity, social engagement, listening skills and overall health and well-being' 7 . Robinson 1 reported positive effects on mood, loss of self (being 'taken out of oneself'), concentration, confidence and self-esteem, pride and achievement, and communication skills, as well as appreciation of the opportunity to reflect on experiences in a supportive environment, and of a common purpose and shared 'journey'.…”

Section: Therapeutically Relevant Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantitative methods for group bibliotherapy research: a pilot study

2022

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Background: Bibliotherapy is under-theorized and under-tested: its purposes and implementations vary widely, and the idea that ‘reading is good for you’ is often more assumed than demonstrated. One obstacle to developing robust empirical and theoretical foundations for bibliotherapy is the continued absence of analytical methods capable of providing sensitive yet replicable insights into complex textual material. This pilot study offers a proof-of-concept for new quantitative methods including VAD (valence–arousal–dominance) modelling of emotional variance and doc2vec modelling of linguistic similarity. Methods: VAD and doc2vec modelling were used to analyse transcripts of reading-group discussions plus the literary texts being discussed, from two reading groups each meeting weekly for six weeks (including 9 participants [5 researchers (3 authors, 2 collaborators), 4 others] in Group 1, and 8 participants [2 authors, 6 others] in Group 2). Results: We found that text–discussion similarity was inversely correlated with emotional volatility in the group discussions (arousal: r = -0.25; p = ns; dominance: r = 0.21; p = ns; valence: r = -0.28; p = ns), and that enjoyment or otherwise of the texts and the discussion was less significant than other factors in shaping the perceived significance and potential benefits of participation. That is, texts with unpleasant or disturbing content that strongly shaped subsequent discussions of these texts were still able to sponsor ‘healthy’ discussions of this content, as evidenced by the combination of low arousal plus high dominance despite low valence in the emotional qualities of the discussion. Conclusions: Our methods and findings offer for the field of bibliotherapy research both new possibilities for hypotheses to test, and viable ways of testing them. In particular, the use of natural language processing methods and word norm data offer valuable complements to intuitive human judgement and self-report when assessing the impact of literary materials.

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“…• Groups for Mersey Care NHS Trust service users, led by a trained Reader in Residence, and also training NHS staff to grow a lasting reading-group culture 7 .…”

Section: Therapeutically Relevant Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Therapeutically Relevant Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative methods for group bibliotherapy research: a pilot study

2022

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“…The writer Arnold Zable has reported that survivors of the “Black Saturday” bushfires responded positively to creative writing workshops, with one participant commenting, “I'm finding this more powerful than counseling” 1 . Projects like “Get into Reading,” used in prison communities, hostels for the homeless, and in mental health care by the Mersey Care NHS Trust (Billington et al, 2013 ). Encourage groups to read aloud together.…”

Section: Music and The Arts In Coping With Traumamentioning

confidence: 99%

Music and trauma: the relationship between music, personality, and coping style

et al. 2015

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“…The Liverpool City Region (LCR) also has a history of harnessing arts for mental health care through partnerships between arts and health providers. One NHS Foundation Trust, a provider of mental health services across North West England, has a strong track record of working with non-NHS agencies to encourage social inclusion and enable people to enhance their health and wellbeing by enriching their life experience (18)(19)(20)(21). Following the awarding of European Capital of Culture in 2008, the Trust in question nurtured a number of creative and cultural partnerships, which are now integral elements of the care offer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional Innovation in Arts Provision Spawned by COVID-19: “It Became a Lifeline for a Lot of People Who Are Stuck at Home”

Worsley¹,

Billington²,

Balabanova³

et al. 2022

Front. Public Health

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Although the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural sector due to the closure of galleries, museums, arts venues, and other cultural assets represents a significant health risk, new opportunities for arts and cultural engagement have arisen. Interviews with 24 representatives including service providers and creative practitioners from 15 arts and cultural organizations within the Liverpool City Region were conducted. The aim was to examine the impact of COVID-19 on arts and cultural provision and on organizations and people providing these services, as well as to understand the perceptions of service providers and practitioners of the effects on those whom arts and cultural organizations serve, including those who would usually access arts through formal healthcare routes (e.g., through collaboration with health partners). Interview data were analyzed using framework analysis. Four overarching themes were identified: Response: Closures, adaptations, and new directions; Challenges of online provision; Value of online provision; and the future of the arts. The arts and cultural sector has innovated rapidly, notably with accelerated digitalisation. Alternative provision has been “a lifeline” for vulnerable groups, such as those with mental health difficulties. Arts organizations have been most effective in reaching vulnerable, isolated and disadvantaged populations when they have worked in close collaboration with health and social care providers. The implementation of hybrid provision is an important move forward for the sector in light of our findings that alternative modes of provision are advantageous additions to service as usual. Given the increasing concerns about the mental health sequelae of the pandemic in the UK, arts and cultural engagement could play a pivotal role in the future recovery period.

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Reading as participatory art: An alternative mental health therapy

Cited by 27 publications

References 12 publications

Quantitative methods for group bibliotherapy research: a pilot study

Quantitative methods for group bibliotherapy research: a pilot study

Music and trauma: the relationship between music, personality, and coping style

Regional Innovation in Arts Provision Spawned by COVID-19: “It Became a Lifeline for a Lot of People Who Are Stuck at Home”

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