‘Art for art’s sake’ or a research methodology to engage vulnerable and often underrepresented groups in healthcare education and research.
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Abstract
The use of arts based approaches within research and scholarly activity is relatively new but where used with sensitive topics, or with those whose voices are often not heard within dominant healthcare discourse, it is proving an effective method to engage with groups which are largely neglected within research.
Methods: One such approach is by use of creative arts based activities to work with groups or individuals (Leavy, 2015), often using external facilitators or researchers who are accustomed to such approaches and methods. In the field of gender based violence researchers are frequently working with very vulnerable groups or individuals who have experienced traumatic experiences and where using conventional methods of conducting research may not provide an appropriate forum for ‘hearing stories of survivorship’ or where those who have experienced abuse may not feel that they have a voice (McGarry & Bowden, 2017).
Results: The study team have gained extensive use of using arts based methods to work with survivors of sexual violence and domestic abuse – both in UK and internationally. We will describe the different approaches used by sharing examples of our work over the past 5 years that have been incorporated into healthcare education programmes with digital resources freely available online (McGarry, et al. 2015).
Discussion: The overall aim is to present the range of activities involved in this methodology, to share our approach to co-production with survivors of abuse in the development of creative digital educational resources and demonstrate their use in an interactive way with the conference audience.
References:
Leavy, P. (2015) Method Meets Art: Arts-based Research Practice. New York: The Guilford Press.
McGarry, J. and Bowden, D. 2017. Unlocking stories: older women’s experiences of intimate partner violence told through creative expression Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing. 24, 629– 637
McGarry J., Baker C., Wilson C., Felton A., Banerjee A, (2015). Preparation for safeguarding in UK pre-registration graduate nurse education. Journal of Adult Protection. 17(6), 371-379