This session draws on two research studies: First, a systematic review that has been funded by the Wellcome Trust and gathered relevant evidence on different uses of the arts as a way of supporting the wellbeing of helping professionals. Second, the results from an exploration of the uses of the arts in hospitals in the UK, in which a multi-tiered approach has been adopted to support the wellbeing of clinical staff. Ways in which the arts have been used to impact on multiple levels will be presented and discussed including an organisational, teams and individual level. Professor Vicky Karkou Director of the Research Centre for Arts and Wellbeing, Edge Hill University UK. Supritha Aithal (PhD) Lecturer and researcher, Edge Hill University Shaun Liverpool (PhD) Lecturer, Edge Hill University. Emma Perris PhD student and research assistant, Edge Hill University. Part of the seminar series, The Spaces Between: Equity, Voice, Agency and Care Practices Involving the Arts and Arts Therapies

114

6/13/2023

The Big Anxiety is one of the world’s largest festivals of arts and mental health, bringing together arts and health experts to advance trauma-informed and lived experience-led approaches to mental health. Underpinned by the Big Anxiety Research Centre at University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (UNSW), it uses innovative creative media and collaborative arts practice to develop new ways to provide psychosocial support for trauma, emotional distress and suicidality. The session will introduce the key principles and methods of The Big Anxiety, highlighting a range of ‘experiential’ programs, and immersive media environments, created in partnership with communities. These range from Edge of the Present, a world-first virtual reality environment for suicide prevention, to Waumananyi, a VR artwork created by Anangu artists in the Central Desert of Australia for use in remote communities looking to break the cycles of trauma.

194

11/17/2022