Building on Age UK’s Index of Wellbeing in Later Life, which found that taking part in ‘creative activities’ such as the arts is closely linked to a strong sense of wellbeing in later life, Age UK delved further into what this really means for older people.
The research found that taking part in activities including dancing, playing a musical instrument, visiting museums, photography, singing and painting are unsurprisingly more prevalent among older people who are in good health, have access to transport, and friends to do things with. Factors such as heavy caring responsibilities, living in a rural area and being unwell make it harder to get out and about and try new things or to keep up activities that have previously been much enjoyed.
To celebrate its 30th birthday, creative arts charity Heart n Soul, which harnesses the talents of people with learning disabilities, has produced a series of portraits of some of the individuals it supports
Sharing Joy is set in the 1940s and 1950s, and features courting couples, wartime nurses, a singing dog, and even Elvis himself. It includes music and costumes designed to bring back memories, and encourages the audience to express themselves by singing along, dancing and joining in with the fun.Its aim is to help people with dementia to connect in alternative ways while boosting their mental, physical health and wellbeing by taking part.
2gether NHS Foundation Trust has been using Gloucestershire’s museums to provide a different environment for art psychotherapy sessions for people experiencing mental health issues.
The groups have been run by Art Psychotherapists from the trust’s Complex Psychological Interventions teams, and are an innovative approach to art psychotherapy for adults with severe and enduring mental illness.
Independence Trust has been working with a team of people, all of whom have a diagnosed mental illness, to create the huge elephant. The elephant will then visit different locations, so that people can sign their names on it in support of reducing the stigma surrounding mental ill health .
The Gloucester branch of a national chain of book stores has joined the fight against mental health stigma.
Waterstones, in Eastgate Street, has hosted a weekly reading group of service users from 2gether NHS Foundation Trust for more than two years.
The group, which is managed by 2gether Recovery College worker Jackie Webb, reads a selection of books, newspaper articles and poems together. Discussion then follows on what has been read.
Jennifer is the love of my life, the glue that holds all my toothpicks together, my bestest friend in the world, my green velvet beetle bird, my chipmunk zoo, my oh, my mine and more, always and all ways more.
Our Trust’s Schools 4 Health Team is encouraging schools in Knowsley to showcase some spectacular dance moves and take part in The Rise and Shine Big Dance.
The event, which has been commissioned by the Schools 4 Health Team and will be delivered by Linx 4 Life, aims to get as many primary schools as possible to take part in a simultaneous dance class in their school on Friday 24 June at 10am to mark National School Sports Week.
A furniture restoration project within mental health inpatient wards in Warrington has won a prestigious award for waste prevention at the National Recycling Awards 2017.
The shabby chic project has supported furniture reuse and upcycling on Austen and Sheridan wards at Hollins Park Hospital in Winwick, which is run by our Trust.
North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s Ignite Your Life event will take place from 1pm at Walton Hall and Gardens and includes an afternoon programme of mental health and wellbeing activities for service users, staff and volunteers from the Trust, along with local third sector and voluntary organisations.
Activities on offer include painting marine sculptures and journal therapy techniques, as well as creative stitching, song writing and flower arranging.
A disturbed circadian rhythm seems to be a causal factor in the occurrence of depressive disorders in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). The circadian rhythm can be restored with light. Therefore, Bright Light Therapy (BLT) might be a new treatment option for depression in PD patients.
Our ChildrePhoto of CAMHS participation teamn and Young People’s Mental Health (CAMHS) participation team covering Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and northeast Somerset have been working with young people to challenge misconceptions about mental health.
Over this summer, young people working with the team developed three short films, which they hope will be included in school PHSE packs. The films talk frankly about mental health issues and the need to seek support.
International Journal of Play Therapy26.1 (Jan 2017): 12-22.
Adult survivors of childhood abuse often experience a variety of negative mental health consequences. Sandplay therapy, which has shown promise for use with child survivors of abuse, is a powerful therapeutic tool in which participants place figurines in a tray of sand to create a dialogue between the conscious and the unconscious aspects of the person’s psyche. Using a case-study design, we examined the efficacy and perceived efficacy of sandplay therapy for a 52-year-old woman who presented to a university psychology clinic with a range of difficulties stemming from her childhood abuse. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
GeroPsych: The Journal of Gerontopsychology and Geriatric Psychiatry Vol. 31, Iss. 1, (2018): 17-30.
Existing research has primarily evaluated music therapy (MT) as a means of reducing the negative affect, behavioral, and/or cognitive symptoms of dementia. Music listening (ML), on the other hand, offers a less-explored, potentially equivalent alternative to MT and may further reduce exposure to potentially harmful psychotropic medications traditionally used to manage negative behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD).. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.