Developing a network for mutual learning on the potential of creative arts for mental health advocacy and activism in Ghana and Indonesia
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Warwick
Department Name: Warwick Medical School
Abstract
This project will create a network of researchers, artists and people with lived experience of mental illness in Ghana, Indonesia and the UK to explore the potential of creative arts to support advocacy and activism. Mental illness can be very disabling and people living with mental illness can experience discrimination, stigma and exclusion in areas such as education, work and housing. They can also be subjected to human rights abuses such as chaining. Creative arts including poetry, music, and drama, can be successful in engaging people in social issues, such as human rights and mental health, and campaigning for change. However there has not been much use of the arts in mental health advocacy in low-income countries and we don't know which methods and approaches will work best in different settings.
It is important that people living with mental illness are included in decisions that affect them and enabled to participate in a meaningful way in research and advocacy. We will start with three meetings with people living with mental health conditions in Ghana and Indonesia to give time and space to develop trust and enable an open discussion to find out what are their problems, priorities and needs. This will include talking about difficult issues and listening to different points of view. We will take special care to make sure that people who are more disadvantaged, such as people with severe mental health conditions or who have difficulties reading or writing, are supported to participate.
After these meetings we will hold two more meetings with the group and with artists in each country. In these meetings artists will learn about the experiences of people living with mental illness in their country and explore how creative arts could be used for advocacy. They will discuss the preferred language and images to be used and ways to keep people safe and protect their mental health and confidentiality. In the second meeting they will experiment with different creative arts to see which work best to support safe open conversations and deepen understanding.
Finally we will hold a two-day workshop for mental health advocates, artists and researchers from the three countries to meet face-to-face in Indonesia. We will invite the group of people with lived experience of mental illness who took part in the meetings in Indonesia as well as stakeholders, such as caregivers, health workers, community groups and policy makers to the workshop. In these discussions we will share what we have learned during the group discussions in each country and identify the opportunities and barriers to including people with mental illness and promoting their rights in each country. During the workshop we will use creative arts to help people listen to each other across different levels of power and social status, ask questions and reach decisions.
During the visit to Indonesia we will launch the network and our website. Our aim is to include more people from different countries in the network and to develop activities using the arts for mental health advocacy together. We will write papers, hold webinars and seminars and advertise the network on social media and radio and television in each country. We will write guidelines based on what we have learned which can be used by people with lived experience and their families, artists, researchers, and activists who want to use arts in advocacy to promote the rights of people living with mental illness.
It is important that people living with mental illness are included in decisions that affect them and enabled to participate in a meaningful way in research and advocacy. We will start with three meetings with people living with mental health conditions in Ghana and Indonesia to give time and space to develop trust and enable an open discussion to find out what are their problems, priorities and needs. This will include talking about difficult issues and listening to different points of view. We will take special care to make sure that people who are more disadvantaged, such as people with severe mental health conditions or who have difficulties reading or writing, are supported to participate.
After these meetings we will hold two more meetings with the group and with artists in each country. In these meetings artists will learn about the experiences of people living with mental illness in their country and explore how creative arts could be used for advocacy. They will discuss the preferred language and images to be used and ways to keep people safe and protect their mental health and confidentiality. In the second meeting they will experiment with different creative arts to see which work best to support safe open conversations and deepen understanding.
Finally we will hold a two-day workshop for mental health advocates, artists and researchers from the three countries to meet face-to-face in Indonesia. We will invite the group of people with lived experience of mental illness who took part in the meetings in Indonesia as well as stakeholders, such as caregivers, health workers, community groups and policy makers to the workshop. In these discussions we will share what we have learned during the group discussions in each country and identify the opportunities and barriers to including people with mental illness and promoting their rights in each country. During the workshop we will use creative arts to help people listen to each other across different levels of power and social status, ask questions and reach decisions.
During the visit to Indonesia we will launch the network and our website. Our aim is to include more people from different countries in the network and to develop activities using the arts for mental health advocacy together. We will write papers, hold webinars and seminars and advertise the network on social media and radio and television in each country. We will write guidelines based on what we have learned which can be used by people with lived experience and their families, artists, researchers, and activists who want to use arts in advocacy to promote the rights of people living with mental illness.
| Title | A Visual Symphony for Mental Health - Yogyakarta, Indonesia |
| Description | The event showcased creative work produced by a group of people with lived experience of mental illness working alongside artists, some of whom also had experience of mental health issues. The performance included music, dancing, drama and storytelling which was used to convey the lived experience of the group and advocate for their rights. The event also featured a theatre arts practitioner from the University of Ghana and Lododo Art, Dr Sarah Dorgbadzi, and examples of poetry and YouTube broadcasts on the topic of mental health from Ghana. The event was hosted by the Centre for Public Mental Health, Universitas Gadjah Mada at a large public theatre in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Impact | The performance was attended by an audience of approximately 600, including the general public, academics, health practitioners, students, schoolchildren and other stakeholders. It was held in the large public theatre in the city centre of Yogyakarta. |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-arts-performance-a-visual-symphony-for-mental-health-ti... |
| Title | Artwork produced during meetings with lived experience group in Indonesia |
| Description | Several pieces of art were produced by a group of people with lived experience of mental health conditions in Indonesia who were brought together as part of the project to explore the potential of creative arts for mental health advocacy. This included drawings, paintings and batiks. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | Participants gave very positive feedback on the experience of using arts to illustrate their experience and engage others for advocacy. For example they reported feeling 'validated' through sharing experiences with others who had been through similar circumstances, finding 'a big space to be myself without any judgement', and expressed a desire for more time and funding to expand their creative activities. Participants also presented their narratives and art work to members of the local parliament and other stakeholders in Yogyakarta as part of their advocacy. |
| Description | In this project we explored how to involve people with lived experience in mental health advocacy in two DAC listed countries, Ghana and Indonesia, in ways which are safe and inclusive. This is particularly important given the stigma, discrimination, exclusion and human rights abuses which are experienced by people with mental illness in both countries. We successfully established 2 groups of people with lived experience of mental illness in Ghana and Indonesia. These groups were mainly comprised of women, particularly in Ghana, which suggests a need to adapt approaches to engage more men. In both groups participants expressed feelings of solidarity and safety within the group, and appreciation of the opportunity to share their experiences with others who had also experienced mental illness. They were also able to establish boundaries around what they did and did not wish to share. We learned valuable lessons in creating safe spaces, understanding and meeting safeguarding and support needs, and how to make sure activities were inclusive and adapted to people's different needs and abilities. Meetings between the groups of people with lived experience and artists (some of whom also have lived experience of mental health conditions) enabled exchange of learning between artists and people with lived experience from Ghana, Indonesia and the UK. The meetings also provided opportunities for people to use arts to share and discuss aspects of their experience first within the group and later with stakeholders. The activities for this project strengthened links and mutual learning between research teams, people with lived experience and artists in the UK, Ghana and Indonesia. Artists, people with lived experience and researchers from the UK and Ghana travelled to Indonesia to take part in activities to engage stakeholders with what had been learned through the meetings with people with lived experience and artists. We held webinars with artists with lived experience from Ghana, Indonesia and the UK to share experiences of using their art for advocacy and learn from each other. These have been recorded to share internally across the lived experience groups. In March we launched our network on Arts for Mental Health Advocacy (AMHA) and have gained interest from people in several countries. We have continued to work with lived experience peer researchers from Ghana and Indonesia, some of whom were originally trained to work on our previous AHRC funded project. This has enabled them to increase their skills in research and advocacy and expand their international networks. Through this project we enabled mutual learning on using creative arts to facilitate dialogue, advocacy and activism to promote inclusion and participation of people with psychosocial disabilities in two ODA recipient countries, Ghana and Indonesia. We established a network between the two countries and the UK and have increased the capacity of people with lived experience of mental illness to use creative arts to engage in dialogue and advocacy in ways which are safe and inclusive. Through engaging people from Ghana and Indonesia we have made steps towards diversifying participation within mental health advocacy, however we were limited by resources to be able to expand this to include people who are the most marginalised, for example people who have litte education or who live in remote areas. |
| Exploitation Route | We are publicising our network on social media and inviting people and organisations to join to share and learn from experiences of using creative arts in mental health advocacy. We are applying for further funding to expand the network activities, for example to hold exhibitions in Indonesia, Ghana and the UK We will produce guidelines with the lived experience groups and artists on using creative arts in mental health advocacy based on what we have learned which will include examples of the creative practices used by the groups and artists. This will be of value to mental health advocates and civil society organisations. We are planning an online launch of the network and guidelines to increase engagement with our findings and showcase some of the creative work produced through the network to international audiences. We are writing a paper on the experiences of the lived experience peer researchers which we plan to submit for publication this year. This will provide valuable lessons for other researchers and practitioners who plan to involve people with lived experience in their research and advocacy. We will also produce publications for general audiences, for example a blog on the Global Mental Health Peer Network website. These will include creative outputs from the groups and artists. We are also editing a short film from the webinars which will be shared at the launch and on YouTube. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Creative Economy Healthcare |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-arts-performance-a-visual-symphony-for-mental-health-tickets-816177989337 |
| Description | Societal and economic impact: This award has been primarily targeted at enhacing capacity for mental health advocacy in ODA recipient countries using participatory creative arts. Our findings are primarily aimed for use by people with lived experience of mental illness, families, third sector organisations/NGOs, healthcare workers and other stakeholders. To date through the project we have supported advocacy with local government stakeholders in Indonesia by hosting a meeting on 16th March 2024 between provincial government representatives, stakeholders (social services, mental health services etc.) and people with lived experience of mental illness. We hope to be able to hold a similar meeting in Ghana, subject to acquiring additional funds. We have also enhanced the confidence and capacity of people with lived experience of mental illness in both countries, including women, to take part in advocacy and their involvement is increasingly being taken up in government and multi-agency meetings on mental health. We have learned valuable lessons on safeguarding and inclusive practice when working with people with lived experiece of mental health conditions. Our guidance and publications will contribute to engaging stakeholders with our findings in the coming year. We are also seeking funding to showcase the creative outputs and reach more audiences. SDGs: These activities are contributing towards meeting SDG 3 Health and Wellbeing, SDG 8 Decent Work, SDG 11 Reduced inequalities and SDG 16 for peace, justice and strong institutions. Enhancing mental health advocacy in the two countries and beyond will help to promote greater inclusion of people with serious mental illness and support their economic and social participation in their communities. This will in turn enhance the health and well-being of people with mental illness and their families. As well as using creative activities for advocacy, members of the lived experience group have reported directly beneficial effects of engaging in creating activities and meeting with others who share similar experiences. They report that this has helped to reduce feelings of isolation and brought people together to support one another in advocacy activities. Gender: We have involved women in our activities both in the lived experience groups and the research team. Indeed women are over-represented with our research teams in Ghana, Indonesia and the UK consisting almost exclusively of women. This is important in building capacity since in Ghana and Indonesia there is significant gender inequalities with men dominating leadership positions in research and mental health non-governmental organisations. We have noted that fewer men are involved in the lived experience groups which suggests that more work is needed as the project progresses to address the impact of mental health stigma which may be higher among men in both countries due to stereotypes of masculine strength and societal pressures on men to be seen as strong providers. We have involved a male lived experience peer researcher in Ghana and have a male artist from the UK who will be helpful in reaching this group. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Education,Healthcare,Other |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal Policy & public services |
| Description | Advocacy to Yogyakarta Province Parliament |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| URL | https://www.dprd-diy.go.id/terima-audiensi-dari-center-for-public-mental-health-ugm-dprd-diy-harap-p... |
| Description | British Academy Writing Workshop - training for peer researchers |
| Geographic Reach | Africa |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Increasing the skills and confidence of people with lived experience of mental illness in writing for publication. |
| Description | Influenced training of Psychology students |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | PG students and interns have to apply the acquired skills to produce their own mental health visual output for public engagement |
| Description | British Academy Qualitative and Visual Mental Health Research in Ghana and Indonesia International Writing Workshops |
| Amount | £29,940 (GBP) |
| Organisation | The British Academy |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2022 |
| End | 03/2024 |
| Title | Lived experience peer research |
| Description | Ongoing involvement with people with lived experience of mental illness from Ghana and Indonesia as researchers - they are employed as lived experience experts in research, evaluation and engagement activities in Ghana and Indonesia. They also working with the research team to co-produce research outputs including academic publications, guidelines, conference presentations and public engagement events. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Increasing confidence and experience of peer researchers from DAC listed countries in contributing to research and research outputs. We have adapted methods used to train peer researchers in other DAC countries (e.g. with SUCCEED in Nigeria and Uganda) to our work with lived experience researchers in Ghana and Indonesia. Lessons learned from training and working with peer researchers in Ghana and Indonesia have been applied to other projects where people with lived experience of mental illness are part of the research team, including the NIHR Homelessness and Mental Health in Africa project (HOPE). This includes approaches to working more equitably with people with lived experiences and considerations for safeguarding and ethics. Training materials which were used for training the peer researchers were also adapted for use on HOPE. |
| Title | Participatory arts-based methods with people with lived experience of mental illness |
| Description | We have experimented with various participatory arts-based methods to research lived experience of mental illness, promote understanding and advocate for social inclusion and human rights. This includes film, drama (including radio drama), music, dance, visual arts, batik, poetry and spoken word. We have explored the relevance of different methods in different cultural contexts in Ghana and Indonesia. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Radio dramas were broadcast to audiences on a popular local Ga language radio station in Ghana followed by a phone-in with members of the public. The dramas were broadcast on Obonu FM for a show focused on disability rights and inclusion which is on air during the peak drive-time. Various experts in mental health including people with lived experience, psychologists, mental health NGO workers took part in the phone-in to answer listeners' questions. Participatory videos which described lived experience of mental illness in Ghana and Indonesia have also been played to diverse audiences including members of the public and policy makers. Lessons learned through the use of these participatory arts-based methods have been as used as teaching and training materials for students of psychology, medicine and global health and research teams in several countries (e.g. as part of NIHR HOPE in Ethiopia, Ghana and Kenya, global health students at Warwick Medical School). |
| Description | Collaboration with Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK |
| Organisation | University of Sussex |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are part of the group of AHRC Disability Inclusive Sustainable Global Development Networks which is led by Stephen Thompson at the IDS, University of Sussex. Agus Sugianto, a lived experience expert from Indonesia, attended a meeting of the network and we are contributing to meetings and discussions with Dr Thompson and members of the network. This includes planning a face-to-face meeting for ECRs in the network which will be attended by ECRs from Ghana and Indonesia in our research group. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Stephen Thompson is organising the network and hosted a face-to-face meetings for PIs in Sussex in December. He is leading planning for the ECR meeting and other activities of the network. |
| Impact | Agus Sugianto, lived experience researcher, Indonesia, participated in the meeting of ECRs in the network in January 2024. He established connections and shared his learning needs and ideas for professional development with other ECRs in the network. This was multi-disciplinary involving researchers in disability, geography, art, social sciences etc. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Collaboration with Middlesex University, UK |
| Organisation | Middlesex University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Leading on development of research proposal Co-developing creative outputs and public engagement activities Leading development of international network on using arts in mental health advocacy Co-authoring academic papers |
| Collaborator Contribution | Co-development of research proposal - co-investigator, Prof Erminia Colucci Link to collaborators at the Centre for Public Mental Health, Universitas Gadjah Mada Co-development of creative outputs and public engagement activities Participation in network on using arts for mental health advocacy Introduction to experts in creative practice in mental health, for example as members of the project steering committee Co-authoring academic papers |
| Impact | British Academy grant funding for writing workshops attended by peer researchers and co-led with Dr Lily Kpobi, University of Ghana A Visual Symphony for Global Mental Health - performance for stakeholders in Indonesia (March 2024) Meeting with local parliament and stakeholders in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and presentation of lived experience narratives by people with lived experience of mental illness. Multi-disciplinary collaboration - psychology, anthropology |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Collaboration with Queen Mary University of London |
| Organisation | Queen Mary University of London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Contribution to research and debate on spirituality and mental health and understandings of mental illness and intellectual disability in Ghana, in particularly providing insights from research in Ghana and anthropological theory. Analysis and writing up of research findings Developing and conducting roundtable event on spirituality and mental health, inviting speakers from research projects (including Dr Lily Kpobi and Agus Sugianto) Participating as speaker in roundtable event. Co-developing grant proposal with PI Dr Camillia Kong from QMUL and linking to colleagues in Ghana as Co-Is and partners. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Funding flights and accomodation for international speakers to roundtable event in London (March 2023) and for analysis and writing with partners in Ghana (April 2023). Leading research and debate on spirituality and mental health and understandings of mental illness and intellectual disability in Ghana, particularly based on philosophical perspectives Organisation and funding for Enchanted Worlds roundtable event on spirituality and mental health Participating as speaker in roundtable event. Leading on development of an ERC grant application. |
| Impact | Roundtable event on 30th March 2023 at QMUL Enchanted Worlds and Human Meaning: Interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue on spirituality and mental health. Presentations from international speakers including Lily Kpobi and Agus Sugianto from our research teams in Ghana and Indonesia. Multi-disciplinary collaboration across philosophy, anthropology, psychology, religious and cultural studies The event was attended by about 50 people - members of the public, academics, health practitioners. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Collaboration with Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia |
| Organisation | Gadjah Mada University |
| Country | Indonesia |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Leading on development of grant proposal Planning of lived experience group meetings Planning for performance and workshop in Indonesia Link to collaborators and partners in the UK and Ghana Training in academic writing Co-production of papers for publication |
| Collaborator Contribution | Co-development of grant proposal Recruitment, planning and facilitation of meetings of lived experience group and artists Recruitment of artists Links to collaborators and partners in Indonesia Planning and organisation of public creative performance and meetings with stakeholders in Indonesia. Contribution of funds to extend reach of engagement activities Co-faciliation of academic writing workshop Co-production of papers for publication |
| Impact | Meetings of lived experience group and artists, co-development of creative outputs Visual Symphony for Mental Health performance Advocacy event at local parliament, Yogyakarta Funding for academic writing workshop This collaboration was initially established in 2018 for an earlier UKRI award (Using collaborative visual research methods to understand experiences of mental illness, coercion and restraint in Ghana and Indonesia ES/S00114X/1) and has been continued and strengthened through our subsequent AHRC and British Academy grants. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Collaboration with University of Ghana |
| Organisation | University of Ghana |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Leading on development of grant proposal Connection with UK partners Planning for lived experience group meetings and Indonesia workshop Planning and co-delivery of writing workshop |
| Collaborator Contribution | Co-development of grant proposal Recruitment, planning and facilitation of lived experience group meetings Connection of lived experience group with artists from Lododo Art Foundation/University of Ghana School of Performing Arts Participation in visit to Indonesia and meetings with lived experience group in Indonesia with lived experience advocate, Esenam Drah |
| Impact | Visual Symphony for Mental Health, performance in Yogyakarta, Indonesia Formation of lived experience group, co-production of creative outputs Multi-disciplinary collaboration - arts, psychology, social sciences Collaboration with the University of Ghana was initially established by Dr Read in 2016 for research funded by ERC and has been continued and strengthened through subsequent Wellcome Trust, UKRI and British Academy grants. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | "A Visual Symphony for Mental Health" Film screening, performance and discussion by Ghana, UK, Indonesian team |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This is a very big event planned and prepared by the workshop participants for several objectives: 1. combat stigma on mental illness 2. increase mental health literacy 3. advocacy for better healthcare This event was prepared by the Art for Mental Health Advocacy workshop participants, in the city centre cultural centre of Yogyakarta province Attended by the colleagues from Ghana and UK |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://ugm.ac.id/id/berita/cpmh-ugm-gelar-pertunjukan-seni-untuk-advokasi-kesehatan-mental/ |
| Description | ECR meeting, Institute for Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Agus Sugianto, lived experience researcher on the project, attended an online meeting for ECRs in January, which was organised by Stephen Thompson, IDS, University of Sussex as part of his role co-ordinating the networks for disability inclusive development. He met with ECRs from across the projects based in several ODA recipient countries. They discussed their learning needs and future research agendas in disability inclusion and inclusion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.ids.ac.uk/people/stephen-thompson/ |
| Description | International Visual Methods Conference, Rome, 29-31th May 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | For the International Visual Methods Conference I held a number of events, workshops and presentations linked to three UKRI-funded projects: 1- Colucci E. 'Participatory visual methods in activist mental health research'; 2-Colucci E. & Haragonics S. 'Participatory Video in mental health research in Ghana and Indonesia" (panel); 3- Smit J., Marzano L. & Colucci E. 'Using arts-based and visual methods as part of a mixed-methods study into what we can learn from Further and Higher Education students' lived experiences of attempted suicide; 4-Colucci E. & Hansen S. Workshop: 'Visual Psychology'; 5- Smit J. & Colucci E. Workshop: 'Using arts-based and visual methods to empower and understand lived experiences related to mental health, exploring barriers and challenging perceptions in research and practice'; 6-Smit J., Marzano L. & Colucci E. Exhibition: 'Unspoken' |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://ivmc8.visualmethods.info/ |
| Description | Invited keynote and Film-screening with Q&A for the Qualitative Research in Mental Health Conference, Budapest, Hungary, Aug 31-Sep 2 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I gave an Invited keynote titled 'Co-produced and participatory visual methods in cultural and global mental health research' and held an invited pre-conference workshop: 'Co-produced and participatory visual methods in cultural and global mental health research'; during the conference, I also held Film-screening with Q&A of our research film: Harmoni: Healing Together |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | http://qrmh9.com/ |
| Description | Media interviews and coverage following meeting with provincial parliament, Yogyakarta Indonesia March 2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Several news outlets in Yogyakarta Indonesia attended the meeting of the research group, lived experience group members, artists and advocates from the UK and Ghana on 16th March 2024. They reported on the lived experience narratives and creative performances which were presented to the leader of Yogyakarta provincial parliament and stakeholders. The event was widely covered in the local press and online. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Meeting with provincial government, Yogyakarta, Indonesia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A meeting was held at the provincial parliament in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. This was attended by the leader of the parliament and approximately 10 stakeholders from health and social services as well as 10 members of the lived experience group in Indonesia. The people with lived experience presented narratives of their lived experience to the leader of the provincial parliament and the stakeholders using drama, song and visual arts to illustrate their experience. This was followed by questions and discussion with the stakeholders and parliament leader and actions were pledged by the provincial parliament to address the experiences of exclusion, discrimination and human rights abuses recounted by the group members. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Meetings of lived experience group and artists Ghana and Indonesia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Patients, carers and/or patient groups |
| Results and Impact | 24-40 people (12-20 people in each country) with lived experience of mental health conditions attended 5 meetings in Ghana and Indonesia. The final 2-3 meetings were with artists from each country. They discussed the following topics: Experiences of living with mental illness and community responses including experiences of misunderstanding, discrimination and social exclusion and of participation, empathy and support. Language used to describe mental illness, participants' perceptions of stigmatising language, preferred terms and their meanings Images and other representation of mental illness, participants' perceptions of stigmatising images/representations, participants' experience of these images/representations, preferred images/representations and the reasons for this Experiences which participants are willing to share, experiences which they do not wish to share, potential implications of sharing experiences of living with mental illness, how to share information safely Experiences of using creative methods, feelings towards use of creative methods in advocacy, potential advantages and challenges of this approach Priority areas for improving understanding and facilitating inclusion and ways in which lived experience might inform action. In the meetings with artists the lived experience group shared what they had discussed and explored creative activities and developed lived experience narratives and creative pieces which were included in the Visual Symphony for Mental Health performance and the meeting with the local government in Yogyakarta |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Online Summer Course: Using Visual Research Methods for Mental Health Advocacy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | It was part of big event with around 20 spekers |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.instagram.com/p/CuHLoeUSJRB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link |
| Description | Seminar and film screenings |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | As part of the CSEAS fellowship at Kyoto University, between Jan and March 2024, I held seminars and film screenings with Q&A at Kyoto University and Osaka National Ethnological Museum using visual outputs and learnings from UKRI-funded projects |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://kyoto.cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/2024/?post_type=event |
| Description | Session discussant and film screening |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I was an invited discussant for a conference session and also held the film screening with discussion of one of this project's research film for the British Academy conference ''Public health after COVID: beliefs, religion and competing epistemologies', 26-27 May 2023, KCL, London UK As part of these events, I spoke about using visual methods for mental health research and advocacy in relation to several UKRI-funded projects |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/british-academy-conferences/public-health-after-covid/ |
| Description | Workshop 'Visual methods for mental health research and advocacy in LMICs |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Í held a one day invited workshop on 'Visual methods for mental health research and advocacy in LMICs', 12-13 January 2023, Universitas Negeri Padang (Indonesia). by the end of the workshop, which included a few short films from UKRI-funded projects, participants produced a small group proposal for their visual project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Workshop on Visual Ethnography and healing with screening of the film ''Harmoni: Healing together' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | As part of a conference organized by the EU-funded Healing Network I was invited to take part in a workshop about visual ethnography and healing to talk about using visual methods in mental health research and advocacy and show one of the feature lenght films that were an outcome of Together for Mental health (Harmoni; healing together) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.siacantropologia.it/prodotti/international-conference-sapienza-in-trance-healing-coopera... |
| Description | oral presentation for Sapienza in trance: Healing, cooperation and imagination, Rome, 12-15 Sept 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | oral presentation (invited) Colucci E., Read U., Setiyawati D. & Kpobi L. 'Together for Mental Health: Understanding collaborative mental health care in Ghana and Indonesia through visual research methods' |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| URL | https://www.siacantropologia.it/prodotti/international-conference-sapienza-in-trance-healing-coopera... |