Project team:
Professor Norma Daykin (UWE, School of Health and Social Care)
Ellie Byrne (UWE, School of Health and Social Care)
Nola Davis (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust)
Dr Susan O’Connor (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust)
Dr Mark Palmer (UWE, Faculty of Art Media and Design)
Dr Tony Soteriou (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust)
Jane Willis (Willis Newson)
This research explored the impact of Moving On, the UK’s largest funded mental health arts project, which was undertaken by AWP as part of the modernisation of mental health services. Over £600,000 was committed to the programme, which included 30 individual artist commissions across 15 new units or buildings. These range from water features and artworks for the gardens, to specially designed flooring, textile and entrance glazing commissions, all planned to enhance new facilities scheduled to open between October 2005 and November 2006. The aims of Moving On include creating the best possible healthcare environment in the new buildings and to facilitate the transition of service users and staff to new accommodation and services.
The research sought to explore the impact of arts on patients’ and staff perceptions of health, wellbeing and quality of the environment. A key issue was that of diverse perceptions of the quality of an environment and their implications for the management of different needs of stakeholders in relation to arts and health initiatives. Issues of service user involvement and participation also emerged as being of key significance.
The project team produced a systematic review of the literature on the impact of visual arts and design on the health and wellbeing of patient and staff in mental health care. Click here to view the document: Literature Review
The study used a mixed methods approach including discourse analysis of over 40 project documents and interviews with 60 participants including service users, staff and other stakeholders. The findings were presented for the first time at the Society for Arts in Health Care Annual Conference in Philadelphia, April 2008: SAH Presentation
The evaluation findings were used to develop a best practice framework which can be downloaded here: Best Practice Framework
A summary of the study and the final report are available from the following links:
Summary
Final Report
For more information about Moving On, see the project website: www.movingonarts.info