Creativity & innovation - The creative arts / Mental health in the community

‘Mental health in the community’ is a series of six podcasts brought to you by the Mental Health Foundation and the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.

What is this series about?

From 2016 to 2019 the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust ran the Mental Health Fellowships programme, funding individuals to travel abroad to learn more about how community-based solutions are being created to respond to some of today’s most pressing mental health challenges.

The Mental Health Foundation was the expert partner in this programme, helping to shape its aims, select the successful candidates and provide mentoring to the successful Fellows. In total, 59 Churchill Fellows were chosen to investigate best practice in 18 countries and bring back new evidence and ideas to create positive change in their profession, practice and communities in the UK.

This series of podcasts distils the key findings from this rich body of learning, and makes recommendations for policy and practice in the UK. Each episode focuses on an aspect of the Mental Health Fellowships’ overarching theme ‘community-based solutions’. There are also corresponding briefings for each of the categories below, available at www.mentalhealth.org.uk or www.wcmt.org.uk.

Episode 2: Creativity and Innovation: the creative arts

Who’s on the podcast today?

Trevor Barnes: Host, freelance journalist and BBC radio presenter.

Dr Kat Taylor: a clinical psychologist and art and mental health innovation programme manager at Greater Manchester i-Thrive, travelled to Finland and the USA (2017) to study initiatives embedding the arts into health care.

Alison O’Connor: a psychotherapist, trainer and co-founder of Cardiff based Arts in Health organisation, Re-Live. Alison travelled to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the USA (2016) to investigate the impact of the creative arts on families and veterans affected by trauma and moral injury.

What is the episode about?

This episode features two Fellows’ findings about how the creative arts are being used abroad to support people’s mental health.

We hear about the Dance Centre of Central Finland in Jyvaskyla where the Baby Dance Hour is an opportunity for mothers to play, sing and dance with their young children. Led by a professional dance teacher and supported by care staff, these sessions allow mother and baby to bond in the simplest and most natural of ways, generating habits of connection through touch, talk, movement and music that help to lay the foundations of good mental health for life.

Trevor then interviews Alison O’Connor about how the performing arts are providing more holistic approaches for supporting veteran’s mental health, in addition to more traditional methods such as talking therapies.

Need support?

 If you need someone to talk to then Samaritans are available on 116 123 (UK) for free, 24/7. They are there to talk to, listen and they won't judge or tell you what to do.

 C.A.L.M.: National helpline for men to talk about any troubles they are feeling. Call 0800 58 58 58 (UK). They are available 5pm-midnight 365 days a year.

 For support in a crisis, Text Shout to 85258. If you’re experiencing a personal crisis, are unable to cope and need support. Shout can help with urgent issues such as: Suicidal thoughts, abuse or assault, self-harm, bullying, relationship challenges.