Art at the Start: A research consortium exploring art-based intervention to support perinatal and infant mental health.
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Dundee
Department Name: Psychology
Abstract
Art at the Start have been offering arts therapy and messy play sessions to promote the health and wellbeing of parents and 0-3 year old infants in art galleries across Scotland, supported by the Mobilising Cultural and Natural Assets to Combat Health Inequalities scheme. During our project, we have managed to reach families who don't traditionally visit art galleries and have helped parents who have had difficulties bonding with their children to connect to their children in the context of shared art making. We have evidenced positive changes in the quality of family wellbeing via questionnaires, interviews and observations of family interactions which focus on the experience of the infant. By tailoring provision to local needs and demographics, and specifically seeking to engage under-served communities (minoritized ethnic groups, those living in poverty, young mothers, infants), we have actively broken down established barriers to accessing the arts. Our project has been listed as an example of best public health practise and won several public engagement prizes. Our team are active in the UK wide movement to support infant mental health.
The NHS rely on community spaces to help them provide the first line of support for families with young children who are struggling with their wellbeing, but don't yet qualify for urgent clinical care. However, there is a lack of guidance concerning how community providers and NHS stakeholders can work together to deliver early interventions effectively and sustainably. Government think-tanks across the UK agree that it is critical to improve links between community services and mental health services for infants and their families within the NHS, including testing and evaluating models for future service development. Giving children the best start in life is important, because our parents teach us how to interact with others, and the love they provide is essential for us to develop academic and social competence. Poor starts in life can be passed down through generations, and early years interventions offer a way to break this cycle. Critically, since both early relationships and access to the arts have been shown to have protective benefits for health and wellbeing throughout the lifespan, art-based early years interventions stand to have a long-term impact on the lives of the families they reach.
The proposed research reflects on whether art-based approaches can be embedded within arts venues as a referral route for infant mental health provision in the UK, ensuring early access to the health benefits of arts. We propose to bring together academics working in psychology, art therapy, arts & health, arts education and midwifery with a range of non-academic stakeholders, including families, family arts and support organisations, arts galleries and NHS infant mental health teams. Led by a community parent researcher and a participation officer from a charity which supports parents, we would aim to evaluate the experiences and needs of families who may benefit from the health and wellbeing outcomes of a community embedded art & health service. Supported by an interdisciplinary team of academics and clinicians, a family arts organisation, and representatives from art galleries and third sector and NHS infant mental health teams, our research team would map existing art-based interventions for early years relationships across the UK. Case studies from two clinicians based within infant mental health teams in Scotland would help to inform the challenges of embedding such services in an NHS context. By facilitating knowledge exchange between this interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary network of academics, clinicians, families, cultural organisations and government and NHS structures, our ultimate aim is to co-produce a research 'road map' to allow for strategic reshaping of cultural assets in the service of public health, targeting the foundations of mental wellbeing.
The NHS rely on community spaces to help them provide the first line of support for families with young children who are struggling with their wellbeing, but don't yet qualify for urgent clinical care. However, there is a lack of guidance concerning how community providers and NHS stakeholders can work together to deliver early interventions effectively and sustainably. Government think-tanks across the UK agree that it is critical to improve links between community services and mental health services for infants and their families within the NHS, including testing and evaluating models for future service development. Giving children the best start in life is important, because our parents teach us how to interact with others, and the love they provide is essential for us to develop academic and social competence. Poor starts in life can be passed down through generations, and early years interventions offer a way to break this cycle. Critically, since both early relationships and access to the arts have been shown to have protective benefits for health and wellbeing throughout the lifespan, art-based early years interventions stand to have a long-term impact on the lives of the families they reach.
The proposed research reflects on whether art-based approaches can be embedded within arts venues as a referral route for infant mental health provision in the UK, ensuring early access to the health benefits of arts. We propose to bring together academics working in psychology, art therapy, arts & health, arts education and midwifery with a range of non-academic stakeholders, including families, family arts and support organisations, arts galleries and NHS infant mental health teams. Led by a community parent researcher and a participation officer from a charity which supports parents, we would aim to evaluate the experiences and needs of families who may benefit from the health and wellbeing outcomes of a community embedded art & health service. Supported by an interdisciplinary team of academics and clinicians, a family arts organisation, and representatives from art galleries and third sector and NHS infant mental health teams, our research team would map existing art-based interventions for early years relationships across the UK. Case studies from two clinicians based within infant mental health teams in Scotland would help to inform the challenges of embedding such services in an NHS context. By facilitating knowledge exchange between this interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary network of academics, clinicians, families, cultural organisations and government and NHS structures, our ultimate aim is to co-produce a research 'road map' to allow for strategic reshaping of cultural assets in the service of public health, targeting the foundations of mental wellbeing.
Organisations
- University of Dundee (Lead Research Organisation)
- University of Glasgow (Collaboration)
- Whitworth Art Gallery Manchester (Collaboration)
- NHS Tayside (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS (Collaboration)
- Newcastle University (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum and Arts Centre (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF DERBY (Collaboration)
- Dundee Contemporary Arts (Collaboration)
- Maternal Mental Health Scotland (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD (Collaboration)
- University of Glasgow (Project Partner)
- Parent-Infant Foundation (Project Partner)
- SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT (Project Partner)
| Description | We benefited from 9 months of UKRI funding from the health inequalities scheme, pulling together an interdisciplinary research consortium to map and interrogate existing arts-based supports for IMH in the UK. In addition to representatives from the NHS, art galleries, third-sector mental health and arts organisations, and academics across Psychology, Arts Therapy, Arts Education, Midwifery, and Arts & Health, our consortium included a community parent researcher who had previously accessed our intervention. This parent was supported by a participation officer from PIMH Scotland to help us to evaluate the experiences, barriers and needs of families who may benefit from a community embedded art & health service. We targeted community outreach sessions to reach families with 0-3s living in areas of high deprivation and ran focus groups with parents with lived experience of perinatal mental health difficulties. This rich qualitative evidence base supplemented a nationally representative survey of parents identifying the enablers and barriers of accessing cultural assets, and identification of best-case examples arising from our UK wide asset mapping exercise. We are currently preparing the main output of the project, which is a professionally produced report detailing the experiences and needs of families who may benefit from the health and wellbeing outcomes of a community embedded art & health service, and mapping existing art-based interventions for attachment across the UK, exploring commonalities and differences in the local conditions of setting up each service. This report draws from case studies from families and NHS and third sector health professionals, survey data, systematic review and interviews, and includes professional photography to provide a visual record of the breath of creative interventions available. This output will be shared across our academic, public, third sector and government networks and embedded on the Art at the Start website. We feel that a community based approach is key to raising the profile of infant mental health in the UK whilst combatting stigma. Families who are struggling want to be helped by those they know, in places they know, and every family serves to benefit from and know about infant mental health. However, there is a tension between grass roots community driven services and ensuring equitable access to sustainable mental health supports across the country. This is reflected in parents' ability to access infant mental health supports, but also more broadly in their ability to access the arts. Our mapping shows that access is uneven and parents feedback shows they often do not know what is available to them. The public health benefits of art participation are significant, including a positive impact on mental health and on the wellbeing of children. As a result, cultural assets play an important role in supporting families' wellbeing. However, a broad range of social factors impact upon arts participation, such as socio-economic status, deprivations, disabilities, existing health conditions, ethnicity and family background. There is therefore a challenge to facilitate engagement with cultural venues for all communities. One way to address this is to open art making and arts venues to as many families with young children as possible, helping them establish ownership of arts and cultural spaces from the very start. During our outreach sessions infants were able to establish clear 'ownership' of gallery spaces through participative arts, sending a powerful message to their parents that arts spaces are 'for' them and their families, and that they and their families are 'worth' that space. Families were able to be led by infants in discovering the joy of making their mark. In the words of artist Romero Britto "Art is too important not to share." Through our consortium work we have also developed research plans and logic models to allow for strategic reshaping of cultural assets in the service of public health through fostering healthy attachment relationships. This step ensures we will be ready to deliver a sustainable legacy beyond the funding period, should further funding become available. However, sustainability and scalability of services is dependent on large scale strategic funding. |
| Exploitation Route | Reflecting on the extant evidence and policy base and interrogating the logic of collaborative arts-based supports in our consortia meetings, our project culminated in the coproduction of a large-scale funding bid for the final phase of the UKRI strategic health inequalities scheme. Here, our consortium proposed to function as a research hub to facilitate strategic reshaping of cultural assets in the service of public health, reaping the benefits of early years intervention. Specifically, we proposed a programme of action research which combined service, evaluation and interdisciplinary research to provide an evidence-based roadmap for third sector and cultural organisations to work creatively with NHS services in supporting infant mental health. Although no intervention can remove all risk of future difficulties, there is overwhelming evidence to support the role of early infant mental health intervention in preventing intersecting negative life outcomes, including mental ill health, criminality, deepening socio-economic deprivation and transmission of insecure attachment patterns. Our proposal aligned directly with this agenda, both practically and strategically, by increasing the capacity of an existing effective intervention, using the Art at the Start model as a test case to understand the complexities, barriers and enablers of rolling out infant mental health support sustainably and equitably. However, as our follow on bid was not selected for funding, we will have to seek alternative sources of support to deliver the final step of our strategic mission. On a positive note, there is an evident thirst for collaborative creative supports for infant mental health in the UK, as evidenced by the spread of the Art at the Start model, now operating in NHS, third sector and gallery-led services across Edinburgh, Dundee, Glasgow, Uist, Blackpool, and Gloucestershire, and soon to begin in Yorkshire, North Ayrshire, Tiree and Renfrewshire. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Creative Economy Healthcare Government Democracy and Justice Culture Heritage Museums and Collections Other |
| Description | During the project, we ran a number of outreach and training events to raise the profile of arts-based supports for infant mental health and secure a direct impact on attendees. This included training 20 Dundee Nursery staff across 5 settings in the benefits of early years art making to support parent infant communication and to help parents tune into their infants' communicative signals and experience. This mode of working is being developed using Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles as a test of change, and is now on its third cycle, meaning we have trained at least one member of staff from all Dundee City nurseries and reached > 100 parents and 2-year-olds facing health inequalities. The early years team subsequently became coinvestigators in our application for follow on funding. We also ran an online training event for NHS third sector and arts professionals interested in applying the Art at the Start model of arts-based supports, and an in-person training event within an art gallery for Blackpool Better Start. Operating as a pioneering integrated care system for infant mental health, training this team allowed us to reach NHS professionals working directly with children and their network, from third sector workers to library staff. After learning about the project, all were enthused about the possibility of building arts-based supports into their modes of working, and this led to their advertising for an art therapist to enrich their service and their becoming coinvestigators in our application for follow on funding. When Art at the Start were included as a case study of best practise in the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health & Wellbeing Creative Health Review at the culmination of Phase 2, the Blackpool team were quick to express their congratulations, noting "We are so grateful to have teamed up with @ArtattheStart1 , implementing universal & specialist creative art sessions as part of our holistic parent infant relationships work. Well done guys, great to be recognised @BpoolCouncil @CECDBlackpool #StartForLife #FamilyHubs" and "Huge congratulations @hellosephine, @ArtattheStart1, Here @CECDBlackpool @BpoolCouncil we feel so privileged to bring @ArtattheStart1 to Blackpool and for you to have collaborated with us as part of our #StartForLife #FamilyHubs work #Trailblazer #WorkingTogether. The project was also cited in the Culture For Health Report 2022, and included as a good practice example in the Scottish Government Voice of the Infant: best practice guidelines and infant pledge and the Scottish Allied Health Professions Public Health Strategic Framework Implementation plan: 2022 to 2027. Together with perinatal and infant mental health charity CrossReach, we have secured funding from the Charles Gordon Foundation to allow the charity to deliver an art-therapy service in Edinburgh across 2023-2026. Through the employment of RF Armstrong at .0.5 FTE, this funding also allows us to provide further training opportunities for teams who would like to integrate art-based support into their practise, and to further develop the research evidence base supporting art-based supports. Coming to the project at a time when the Scottish Government was developing a sustained policy drive to support infant mental health through NHS structures and community collaborations has been a valuable enabler of the project. Through invitations to present at policy forums and professional conferences, we were able to quickly secure a powerful cross-disciplinary network of collaborators, all focused on enabling supports for infant mental health. This network was well placed to offer varied reflection on the availability and accessibility of arts-based supports for infant mental health across the UK, and would ultimately have offered us the currency and connections necessary to start to explore and traverse the complex systems of information governance, risk assessment and research ethics which represent barriers to creative collaboration with the NHS. However, funding was a barrier to the continued work of the network, as we were not successful in our bid for follow-up funding to the strategic UKRI health inequalities scheme. This is particularly unfortunate, since the Scottish Government perinatal and infant mental health implementation group drew to a close during the lifetime of the project, meaning that there is a danger that collaborative working on this issue will wane. Although infant mental health teams have been formed across Scotland and the rest of the UK, and the clear intention and commitment is that work must go on, we encountered significant gaps in institutional knowledge concerning the practical steps needed to set up a community integrated service, on occasion, even when the link was as simple to referring into existing community assets. Thus, although the Art at the Start model has demonstrated proof of concept, and there is a thirst within the UK for creative approaches to infant mental health, there is a significant knowledge gap concerning the practical steps to sustaining and scaling creative approaches. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Education,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice,Other |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal Policy & public services |
| Description | Member of the Infant Mental Health Evaluability subgroup of the Scottish Government Infant Mental Health Implementation group |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Member of the PIMH programme board short life working group for Infant Voice |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13698036.2022.2162101 |
| Description | Tayside development group for infant mental health |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Academic Partner Dr Ania Zubala |
| Organisation | University of the Highlands and Islands |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Brought into the research consortium to represent arts therapies research |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at research consortium meetings and completing related activities. |
| Impact | Multidisciplinary funding bid including representation across AHRC, ESRC and MRC research councils and community and NHS partners. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Academic Partner Dr Lizzie Taylor-Buck |
| Organisation | University of Sheffield |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Brought into the research consortium to represent dyadic art therapy, and supervision |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at consortium meetings and engagement with associated activities |
| Impact | Multidisciplinary funding bid including representation across AHRC, ESRC and MRC research councils and community and NHS partners. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Academic Partner Dr Susan Hogan |
| Organisation | University of Derby |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Brought into the research consortium to represent Arts & Health |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at consortium meetings and engagement in associated activities. |
| Impact | Multidisciplinary funding bid including representation across AHRC, ESRC and MRC research councils and community and NHS partners. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Academic Partner Professor Helen Minnis |
| Organisation | University of Glasgow |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Brought in to consult on infant mental health |
| Collaborator Contribution | Offered consultation and networking opportunities within infant mental health drive |
| Impact | Multidisciplinary funding bid including representation across AHRC, ESRC and MRC research councils and community and NHS partners. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Academic Partner Simon Hackett |
| Organisation | Newcastle University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| PI Contribution | Brought into the research consortium as a member representing clinical art therapy within the NHS |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at consortium meetings and engagement in associated activities. Simon invited RA Vicky Armstrong to join APIC (art psychotherapy intervention consortium) and that collaboration is ongoing linking to other research active art therapists. |
| Impact | Multidisciplinary funding bid including representation across AHRC, ESRC and MRC research councils and community and NHS partners. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Arts Partner, Whitworth Gallery |
| Organisation | Whitworth Art Gallery Manchester |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Brought into the research consortium as a member representing public art galleries with early years programmes |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at consortium meetings and engagement in associated activities. |
| Impact | Visit to Art Baby as part of case study preparation Multidisciplinary funding bid including representation across AHRC, ESRC and MRC research councils and community and NHS partners. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Community Partner, Parent and Infant Mental Health Scotland |
| Organisation | Maternal Mental Health Scotland |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Brought into the research consortium as a member representing early years policy and participation |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at consortium meetings and engagement in associated activities. Support for peer researcher and facilitation of consultation sessions. |
| Impact | Multidisciplinary funding bid including representation across AHRC, ESRC and MRC research councils and community and NHS partners. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Community partner NHS Tayside Infant Mental Health team |
| Organisation | NHS Tayside |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Brought into the research consortium as a member representing NHS infant mental health services in our local area. PI and RA sit on the Tayside IMH implementation group. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at consortium meetings and engagement in associated activities. |
| Impact | Multidisciplinary funding bid including representation across AHRC, ESRC and MRC research councils and community and NHS partners. NHS Tayside IMH team are ongoing partners in research and service delivery, running an art therapy service together with our other partner DCA. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Dundee Contemporary Arts |
| Organisation | Dundee Contemporary Arts |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We trained and employed an Art Therapist who was embedded in the gallery at .25 FTE. They delivered a rolling closed art therapy group to vulnerable parents and infants (0-3 years), and contributed to the gallery's public engagement and outreach programme by running monthly public messy play sessions, outreach to community centres and film festival events for very young children. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attended research consortium meetings with other project partners, provided space and supported the art therapist in their role. |
| Impact | 10 parent infant dyads accessed art therapy within the DCA across 27 sessions. Pre and post test evaluation data were collected and will be used to evidence the positive impact of this service. 23 public sessions were designed and delivered within DCA reaching > 184 families. 7 sessions aimed at Dads were also designed and delivered within DCA, reaching 10 father-infant dyads per session. 2 short film sessions were designed and delivered during Dundee Discovery Film Festival reaching 40 families. 6 outreach sessions to Dundee Community Centre family groups reaching 60 families were also designed and delivered. Feedback cards were collected to allow for evaluation of this outreach. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum and Arts Centre |
| Organisation | Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum and Arts Centre |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We trained and employed an Art Therapist who was embedded in the gallery at .25 FTE. They delivered a block of art therapy to vulnerable parents and infants (0-3 years), and contributed to the gallery's public engagement by running outreach on Barra and Uist within the community. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attended research consortium meetings with other project partners, provided space and supported the art therapist in their role. |
| Impact | 9 parent infant dyads accessed art therapy within the Taigh Chearsabhagh across 12 sessions. Pre and post test evaluation data were collected and will be used to evidence the positive impact of this service. 4 public sessions were designed and delivered at different community venues (2 South Uist, 2 Barra) reaching > 27 families. Feedback cards were provided but not returned. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Art at the Start attended the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board celebratory closing event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | This by invitation only event was the final meeting of the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board and included invited talks from the group, and from third sector organisations aligned to the governments goals (Inspiring Scotland, Parent and Infant Mental Health) and government stakeholders. The infant voice work we contributed to was displayed in a poster. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Art sessions at Dundee International Women's Centre |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Sessions of art and creative play run for the International Women's Centre's Flourish group of 0-3s and their caregivers. Aiming to reach out to families who may not engage with the gallery and to encourage art making together. DIWC art sessions 3 Nov, 22 Dec, 9 Feb, 4 May, 1 June 23 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| Description | Art sessions for Dundee Homestart group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Art sessions run for Homestart family group in Dundee, for 0-3s and their caregivers, aiming to support early art making and raise awareness of the benefits. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| Description | Book bug sessions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Our peer researcher visited Bookbug sessions across Dundee in June 2023 to gather survey reponses on families experiences of arts-based supports |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Dad's rock |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Together with participation officer PIMH Scotland, Ross conducted two focus groups with 9 fathers attending a Dads rock session in Edinburgh to explore their experiences of arts based supports. This was run in conjunction with a participative art session run by Armstrong with Dads and their children under 3 years |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Drop in early years art making session for 0-5s held in the Royal Scottish Academy during the Scottish Society of Artists annual exhibition |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was a drop in art making sessions for 0-5s and their caregivers. We also collected some feedback on participants access to and experience of such events, as a pilot for our survey design in Jan 23 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Gallery visits for mapping exercise |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Throughout July the RF and Co-ordinator visited examples of early years arts provision and spoke with staff facilitating, as well as observing sessions. This included Art Baby at Whitworth, Tiny Tetley Studio, Drop in art spaces in Lightbox and The Mac, community sessions with Starcatchers, Tate modern, Art therapy groups in Glasgow House of an Art Lover |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Human Development Scotland workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Human Development Scotland (HDS) ran a course on infant mental health with a group of workers from a variety of settings and agencies in the Third Sector, spending half a day a week, for 6 weeks at a time, thinking about Infant Mental Health and in particular baby observation. Art at the Start were invited to present a workshop on our work at their conference, discussing how the benefits of arts can be observed directly when we view caregivers and babies making art together. We ran the workshop twice within the wider conference event - for 10 attendees at a time. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | International Play Conference Workshop |
| 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 | Our workshop focused on communicating the Scottish Infant Voice Guidance and using Art at the Start as an example of facilitating Infant Voice in practice, including close observation exercises using a tool previously developed by the research team. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Invited talk for the Art Therapies Research Consortium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Armstrong presented on the Art at the Start project at an Art Therapies Research Consortium in Newcastle to 12 art therapists and researchers |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | NHS Greater Glasgow "wee minds matter" House for an Art Lover sessions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We set up a block of therapeutic sessions in association with the 'wee minds matter' NHS team in Glasgow within House for an Art Lover. The aim was for the member of the research team involved in the therapy to build a relationship with a group of 6 parents accessing arts-based supports for attachment difficulties, who we planned to invite to interview at the culmination of their therapy. However, only one family attended the end event designed for recruitment, and the therapist left for maternity leave shortly after. Since no other members of the research team had a personal relationship with these parents, it was decided to focus on the therapist's reflections and perceptions of family experiences. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Outreach sessions in Dundee Community Centres |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Art sessions for 0-3s and their caregivers were run at community centres around Dundee, aiming to reach families who may not have previously engaged with the gallery and to encourage shared art making. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| Description | Public talk about Art at the Start for Dundee Discovery Days |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A talk given as part of University of Dundee 'Discovery Days' public engagement festival, speaking about the work of Art at the Start |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C45kdu0YUtA |
| Description | Sessions in Glasgow Nurseries |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Art sessions were run for different Glasgow nursery settings, aimed at nursery children and their parents at 'stay and play' sessions. Sessions aimed o raise awareness of the benefits of early art making and to engage families who may not have been to the gallery before. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| Description | Training events for professionals interested in applying arts-based supports |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | To extend the reach of the art-based model of support we delivered training to 2 art therapists from Gloustershire NHS perinatal team, 3 from Impact Arts in the West of Scotland, 1 from Place 2 Be in Glasgow, 2 from NHS and 3rd sector in Kent, and 1 trainee art therapist in Edinburgh. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Training for Blackpool Better Start |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | We ran an in-person training event within an art gallery for Blackpool Better Start. Operating as a pioneering integrated care system for infant mental health, training this team allowed us to reach NHS professionals working directly with children and their network, from third sector workers to library staff. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Training in early art making for National Museum of Scotland Staff followed by a drop in event |
| 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 | We ran a training session for Museum of Scotland learning team staff on the benefits of early art making and how to run sessions. We then followed this up by jointly running a drop in art day in one of the museum galleries for under 5s and their caregivers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| Description | Training with Dundee City Nursery Staff |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | We delivered training in how to run early art making sessions, across 2 days to 14 nursery staff from 5 nursery settings. These staff then went on to deliver sessions for 2 year olds and their caregivers with our support as part of a test of change. We then met again to gather outcomes from the work. In March 2023 we trained 20 Dundee Nursery staff across 5 settings (continuing from the first cohort trained in Sept 2022) in the benefits of early years art making to support parent infant communication and to help parents tune into their infants communicative signals and experience. This training was applied in 'stay and play' sessions, where caregivers facing inequalities qualifying them to access early nursery provision for their 2-year-olds were invited to come to the nursery to create art with their child. During this session, caregivers were shown short film codeveloped by the research team and a small group of parent-infant pairs, which communicates the benefits of art making with caregivers from the infants' perspective. Nursery staff and parents then worked together to spot some of these benefits during the session. Parents also received a book developed by the research team, which discussed the psychological benefits of arts-based supports and offers hints and tips for making art at home. Finally, parents are offered continued access to the book and art materials at their local library in Dundee, who are hosting 'Art at the Start' boxes of paint, paper etc. This mode of working is being developed using Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles as a test of change, and we have now trained at least one member of staff from all Dundee City nurseries and reached > 100 parents and 2 year olds facing health inequalities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| Description | V&A breastfeeding event, with DCA/Art at the Start Pop up |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | As part of Breastfeeding week Scotland, the DCA team ran a drop in arts based session for 0-3s and their caregivers, and the research team approached parents to take part in our survey concerning access to and experiences of arts based supports in June 23 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | World Association for Infant Mental Health 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Art at the Start gave a presentation on Art-based approaches to facilitating positive interactions and supporting early attachments at the 18th World Congress for the World Association of Infant Mental Health, Dublin in July 2023. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |