Mental Health and the Arts John Geddes University of Oxford
Mental health Defined mental disorders (depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, dementia Mental health – milder degrees of low mood, anxiety, stress, social risk factors for defined mental disorders
Art Includes many activities Seems like a good thing Not free, potential risks – therefore needs proper evaluation
Level of intervention Society/community Health care environment Professional training Individual person
Society/community Aim: health promotion, avoidance of medicalisation Outcomes Prevention of mental disorder Reduction of risk factors Promotion of social inclusion Evaluation: social science methodology
Health care environment Aim: complementary Outcomes Promotion of recovery Positive interaction with therapies Promotion of social inclusion Evaluation: qualitative, ?necessary
Professional training Aim: improve clinicians ability to work with Outcomes Promotion of recovery Positive interaction with therapies Promotion of social inclusion Evaluation: qualitative, ?necessary
Specific interventions with individuals with mental disorders Aim: to improve health status Outcomes Symptom reduction Promotion of recovery Improvement of quality of life Reduce risk of relapse Promote reintegration Evaluation: Randomised evidence v. alternative therapies, to estimate relative benefits and costs; alternative designs for some outcomes
Quick search of AMED, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and MEDLINE. Search strategy was: 1 exp mental disorders/ ( ) 2 (art therapy or music therapy or play therapy).sh. (9829) 3 exp sensory art therapies/ (21402) 4 exp creative arts therapy/ (3862) 5 or/2-4 (29919) 6 1 and 5 (4262) 7 6 and random$.mp. (129) 8 remove duplicates from 7 (118)