Books, Articles and Research

Promoting mental well-being and social inclusion through art: Evaluation of an arts and mental health project
Researchers in this study review the benefits reported by consumers following their participation in introductory art courses offered by an arts and mental well-being project. Questionnaires used at the start and end of courses showed that participants recognized improvements in well-being and social inclusion.

Firewalkers: Madness, Beauty & Mystery
VOCAL Virginia used grant funding from SAMHSA's Campaign for Mental Health Recovery to produce a living anthology of stories of people who have experienced the turbulence of a mental health crisis. A guide to radically rethinking mental health, Firewalkers redefines mental illness as "a journey of emotional turbulence, crazy blessings, ecstatic visions, and mad gifts."

Creating change: Using the arts to help stop the stigma of mental Illness and foster social integration
In this article the author hopes to create a passion for change and suggest a way that everyone can help stop stigma. However, research is needed; a design for a study to test this hypothesis is described.

Challenging stigma around mental illness and promoting social inclusion using the performing arts
This article outlines the rationale, evidence base, method and qualitative evaluation of a project that uses the performing arts to challenge the stigma surrounding mental illness and promote social inclusion of people with mental health problems.

The effect of healing gardens and art therapy on older adults with mild to moderate depression.
This study evaluated the effect of garden walks alone, garden walks with guided imagery, and art therapy on mild to moderate depression in older adults. Focus group interviews at the end of the 6-week intervention suggest that all 3 interventions were helpful to participants with mild to moderate depression.