A qualitative exploration of community-based group art initiatives and well-being for young adult carers

This research seeks to advance understanding of the social meaning and value of community-based visual arts activities for marginalised young adult carers across different socio-cultural and political contexts. It builds on current knowledge about creativity and well-being.
Literature on art and well-being is underpinned by theoretical questions concerning the concept of well-being and how this relates to the nature of art and creative practice. Well-being is a broad concept reaching beyond conventional haedonic (pleasurable feeling) and eudaemonic (functioning well) definitions, to include subjective evaluations of life satisfaction. These vary across societies according to factors such as social capital and relative deprivation.
Subjective well-being relates positively to creativity, where creativity is taken as the process of exploring newness. Art is an expression of creativity and a social construct whose functions include commentary, persuasion and worship. Community-based visual art operates in a societal context and its potential to improve psycho-social well-being is a growing area of research.
Concurrently, there is an increasing research focus on global mental health for vulnerable young people. Many young adult carers (YACs) fall within this category. Aged between 16-24, YACs are responsible for the care of family members and account for 2-8% of young adults worldwide. Although caring may help develop resilience, positive identity and empathy, it can also hinder social capital, education and opportunities. Large-scale studies associate YACs with low subjective well-being, and many report developing mental health issues in young adulthood. There is therefore a need to safeguard the well-being of YACs, and community-based art offers a potential form of support.
Among young people the psycho-social benefits of community-based art are increasingly recognised. As an economic alternative to art psychotherapy it is socially engaging, cost-effective and encourages positive developmental processes such as building skills and confidence. However, its potential to benefit the well-being of YACs has not yet been a focus of research.
Related to such research is the question of methodology in arts-and-wellbeing studies. Current literature challenges the logic of using conventionally scientific methods to measure subjectively experienced constructs. Recent studies have attempted to bridge researcher-participant divides by giving participants agency to choose arts-based or other methods to explore meaning and deepen understanding. This approach, also recommended in broader research with YACs, has not yet been applied in the context of group art initiatives and well-being in YACs.
The PhD aims to explore how engagement in community-based group art is perceived and experienced in terms of social meaning and value for the well-being of YACs. To deepen this understanding, a comparison will be made across two socio-culturally and politically diverse contexts in the UK and Nigeria. The UK runs various programmes for YACs, providing potential field-sites for the proposed study. Nigeria has a growing interest in arts and well-being, with links between Ibadan University and Warwick University in the area of youth mental health.
The proposed project will adopt a qualitative methodology within a critical realist perspective. Conventional methods using researcher observations, interviews and focus-group discussions will be extended to include participatory and arts-based approaches with YACs, artists and facilitators involved in suitable projects, with the aim of enhancing stakeholder agency and understanding. Data will be incorporated into a framework analysis, allowing structured assessments of objectives. Digital platforms will enable communication across settings.