Textile Art Promoting Well‐being in Long‐term Illness: Some General and Specific Influences

Abstract

Abstract:The paper reviews previous research into the meanings of textile art-making for people living with long-term illness. Qualitative accounts of the creative process suggest that textile art-making is a multi-dimensional experience. Some practitioners regard textile artwork as a means of coping with discomfort and other symptoms. For a minority, it enables expressions of anxiety and feelings about loss. Nevertheless, participants place more emphasis on the role of textile art-making in rebuilding a satisfactory identity, and restoring autonomy and quality to life. It fills occupational voids following early retirement, and enables social contacts. Textile artwork also stimulates learning and personal development. It remains possible that any creative occupation delivers such benefits. The paper analyses qualitative accounts from seven participants to identify whether textile art-making has any distinctive experiential qualities. As a creative occupation, it seems to be quite distinctive in being readily accessible even to those who do not consider themselves as artistic. Modern textile art embraces diverse techniques and forms, and practitioners' choice and autonomy are enhanced by having several different projects in process at once. It accepts the use of assistive technology, thereby enabling people with a variety of physical impairments to produce 'mainstream' art. It draws upon rich social traditions, facilitating social contact. Many forms of textile art-making are highly time-consuming, fostering a future orientation, and the creative process is often socially visible within the home, with positive consequences for self-image. This study is exploratory. Further enquiry into the distinctive influences of different creative occupations upon well-being is recommended.

Weaving an enhanced sense of self and a collective sense of self through creative textile‐making

“…The ability to choose and to selectively engage in particular occupations in this way, defines individuals as having a sense of self (Christiansen & Townsend, 2004;Harvey & Pentland, 2004). In occupational science, creative selfexpression through textile-making has been addressed by Reynolds (1997Reynolds ( , 2004 and Reynolds and Prior (2003) in their phenomenological studies of women with chronic illnesses. Dickie (2003b), in an ethnography of American quilting guilds, focused on the centrality of learning aspects of the craft, and in a later paper, the importance of creativity as a part of the process of making (Dickie, 2004).…”

Exploring the Role of Art-Making in Recovery, Change, and Self-Understanding---An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Interviews with Everyday Creative People

“…This matches Reynolds' (1997Reynolds' ( , 2004aReynolds' ( , 2004b and Gianakis and Carey's (2011) conception that there is a self-healing tendency in those who engage with art. Participants' change correlated with maintaining a sense of their own identity, enhanced relationships with others, and changes in their art styles.…”

“…IPA has already been used extensively in both art therapy and PCT studies, which supports its use here (e.g., Bird, Mansell, & Tai, 2009;Gianakis & Carey, 2011;Higginson & Mansell, 2008;Reynolds, 1997Reynolds, , 2002Reynolds, , 2003Reynolds, , 2004aReynolds, , 2004b.…”

“…Finally, a separate field describes occupation involving art and its beneficial effects on healing without therapy (Laliberte-Rudman, 2002;Reynolds, 1997Reynolds, , 2002Reynolds, , 2003Reynolds, , 2004aReynolds, , 2004b. In her studies, Reynolds researched how textile art-making beneficially affected women with chronic illness (Reynolds, 1997).…”

Joining in and dropping out: Hand-stitching in spaces of social interaction

“…Co-design extends user-centred design approaches to include participants as partners in the design process -as co-designers -often of experience-based products (Sanders and Stappers 2008), but nevertheless echoes its industrial and marketing origins in its focus on new 'products' over familiar 'processes'. In contrast, emphasizing the therapeutic qualities of familiar 'process', public health initiatives use social stitching activities (among other crafts) to provide remediation as part of occupational therapy programmes (Howell and Pierce 2000;Reynolds 2004; Arts For Health Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 2012).…”