Resourcing the arts for youth well-being: challenges in Aotearoa New Zealand

Mullen, Molly; Walls, Amber; Ahmad, Maria; O’Connor, Peter

doi:10.1080/17533015.2021.2017306

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 16 publications

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“…This is surprising given the potential for participatory methodologies to provide support in terms of equity and inclusion and to contribute to young people's mental health. A few studies that do exist include a study exploring organisational operations of youth arts for wellbeing, which included a youth advisory for feedback on methods [13]; a study exploring music therapy assessments, which recruited participants via a youth advisory of a child and youth mental health service [14] and a study seeking to develop a group music-making project for mental health recovery, which included a youth advisory board who provided feedback on the research process [15]. Yet, there is a dearth of studies that have embedded a youth advisory within the whole design and delivery of arts and mental health projects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arts and Mental Health Co-Research with Youth Advisors: The Role of Emotions, Creating Community, Learning and Growth

Wright,

Devoy,

Gardner

et al. 2024

Youth

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The inclusion of children and young people as co-researchers within mental health research has become increasingly recognised as valuable to improve equity and research quality. These approaches are considered important to shift knowledge and power hierarchies in research that has traditionally marginalised the voices of young people and prioritised positivist ways of knowing. Yet, very little research has explored the value of including youth advisors in research exploring the arts and mental health. This article, co-written intergenerationally, explores the role of a youth advisory (YA) in the design, data collection, and knowledge exchange of the DanceConnect research project: a study exploring if and how online dance classes may improve the social and mental wellbeing of young people (aged 16–24) living with anxiety in the UK. Drawing upon qualitative data (audio recordings of advisory meetings from the study (n = 5 meetings), a youth advisory focus group with an arts-based component (n = 1), and researcher ethnographic fieldnotes from four researchers), this study reflects on the role of a youth advisory in young researchers’ own lives. Through a reflexive analytic approach, we found that the youth advisory constructed meaningful emotional experiences, fostered spaces of learning and growth, and enabled a sense of community. Reflecting on our findings, we also set out key recommendations for researchers working in the field of arts and mental health who may wish to establish youth advisories in the future. This article acts as an important resource that can be used to inform and reflect on improving coproduction processes with youth advisors in arts and mental health research.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%