Creativity and Forensic Mental Health v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Creative practice as mutual recovery: Exploring creativity and well-being within one residential forensic mental health setting
IRAS ID
166505
Contact name
Paul Crawford
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Nottingham
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 30 days
Research summary
This research is funded as part of larger Arts and Humanities Research Council/Research Council UK Connected Communities grant (AH/K003364/1) and will explore creativity within one Forensic Mental Health (FMH) unit in the UK, adopting an ethnographic design.
Evidence suggests that within the UK, inpatient mental health services are environments which can foster stress and anxiety for staff and residents. Engagement in creative activities and their contribution to health and wellbeing is well documented within the literature. Therapeutic arts based programmes are thus often employed within mental health services for the patients whereby creative activity is promoted within the timetabled session. According to Sawyer (2012) “[c]reativity is part of what makes us human.” (p.3) and the ways in which we can be creative is often not bound by the resources available. It is the premise of this research that creative activities may not be limited to the creative spaces which are timetabled within FMH services. Thus this research aims to explore the non-timetabled and timetabled creativity within one FMH service, exploring both resident and staff engagement in such activities.
In order to meet the aims of the research, the researcher will be collecting observational data and conducting interviews with those who wish to take part over a period of nine months through overt participant observation. The research aims to map the creative activities that occur at the residential FMH unit and explore the understandings and implications for patients and staff. This research will contribute to improving inpatient settings for both staff and residents and contribute to the fields of Arts and Health and Mental Health Recovery. The research will also assist in furthering our understanding of how creative activities contribute to the wellbeing of the staff and residents within one FMH service in ways that are currently not researched or understood.
REC name
London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/0471
Date of REC Opinion
19 Apr 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion