Health and wellbeing

An arts organisation in Chester has been awarded more than £120,000 to work with more people in addiction and mental health recovery.

Fallen Angels Dance Theatre will get the money from the National Lottery Community Fund over three years to run weekly community workshops.

Participants will be guided to explore their personal stories through movement by the Co-founder of the organisation, professional dancer Paul Bayes Kitcher, who is himself in recovery, 

Creative and Strategic Director Claire Morris, who founded the group alongside Kitcher, says the organisation's biggest challenge has been convincing people to give movement and dance a try.

She said: "There's a bit of a stigma around dance – that it's only for a certain type of person, or that you've got to be super fit or bendy to do it.

"And it's simply not true. Humans instinctively use their bodies to express how they're feeling, and dance is an extension of that.

"The social and mental health benefits of moving to music are so great, we would encourage anyone who is having doubts to just come along and give it a go."

An artist has been appointed to undertake a research commission to explore well-being in rural communities in Northumberland.

The Maltings (Berwick) Trust and Newcastle University said Emily Cropton, a multi-disciplinary artist based in the Scottish Borders, will work with the two organisations and researchers at the university’s Population Health Sciences Institute to document well-being in rural communities, with a specific focus on the relationship between the human and landscape body.

The Northumberland Gazette reports that the commission has been informed by university research that found living in a rural area can significantly impact individuals’ well-being, both positively and negatively.

“The opportunity to work in this way, between theory and practice, will be a new approach for me and I’m excited to get stuck in,” Cropton said.
 

Work by a theatre company for learning-disabled perfromers is providng them with benefits offstage as well as on, a study has found

Winchester-based Blue Apple Theatre commissioned a study from Dr Rachel Harrison, a Senior Lecturer in Health and Social Care at the University of Winchester, to look at the impact of its work with people with learning disabilities.   

The study found that taking part in Blue Apple’s sessions and performances had many ongoing benefits for the participants by improving their emotional wellbeing and self-confidence.  

“Blue Apple hadn’t realised that what participants valued above everything else were the relationships that they formed when they came to the group,” said Dr Harrison. 

“Being accepted for who you are and being part of a group is so important.”  

Coming to Blue Apple gave participants a unique place where their views and opinions were always listened to and considered, she said.

Interviews also revealed that the skills participants learned for shows helped them in ordinary life, boosting confidence and self-esteem.  

“People told me about being able to speak more clearly because they had learned to project their voice,” said Dr Harrison. “This has given people confidence. One person said 'I can go shopping now because people can understand what I say’.”  

Others told Dr Harrison their maths skills had improved thanks to being involved in musical numbers where they had to count the beats to keep in time.  

Blue Apple’s Artistic Director Richard Conlon said: “Although we see for ourselves the development and growth of wellbeing and confidence in specific individuals, it is reassuring to have that view validated externally.  

"We are also very pleased that we can use these insights to track change in our how participants feel about their experiences at Blue Apple so that we can respond, change and grow to meet their needs.” 

A three-year programme of musical support activities to help people with dementia will launch later this year after funding of £1m was secured.

A combination of awards from the Power of Music Fund, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and NHS Greater Manchester will fund three years of direct musical support activities across all of Greater Manchester’s 10 boroughs.

Manchester Camerata will partner with Alzheimer’s Society and the University of Manchester to run music cafes in a bid to help take pressure off frontline health and care staff.

The organisations intend to recruit and train a volunteer and community workforce of 300 ‘Music Champions’ to deliver the music cafes, helping to support over 1,000 people living with dementia in the area.

Bob Riley, Chief Executive of Manchester Camerata, said: “This is a colossal moment built on over 10 years of work and research in partnership with The University of Manchester. 

"We know it will bring much-needed support for people living with dementia and their carers. It will create new opportunities for our amazing musicians in the UK and bring about changes in the way we invest in music to bring the widest possible benefits to society."

Art therapy is associated with positive outcomes for children and adolescents in a hospital-based mental health unit, a new study published in the Journal of Mental Health has found.

Researchers, led by Sarah Versitano, examined more than six years of data from a child and adolescent mental health hospital ward in Australia to understand if the use of restrictive practices, such as seclusion or physical restraint, was lower during the periods when art therapy was offered compared to times when it was not available.

The findings showed "a clear association" between the availability of art therapy and reduced frequency of seclusion, physical restraint and injection of sedatives in mental health units.

Researchers suggest that the trend could have emerged as art therapy may decrease severe distress levels among patients, reducing the risk of harm to themselves or others.

In forthcoming research, the same team aims to understand better young people's experiences of art therapy and why it appears to reduce distress.