7.4 Aim Four: Enhancing health and wellbeing

7.4 Aim Four: Enhancing health and well-being

We aim to develop high quality creative opportunities that engage the local community and support health

and wellbeing.

We understand that COVID-19 will have had a significant and lasting impact on mental health for people were either already in a precarious position or who have not adapted to the lockdown and its subsequent isolation. Similarly, anxiety and depression is on the rise as a result of worrying news stories, bereavements, illnesses and job losses.

OutPost Arts has had a long-term commitment to improving health and wellbeing, with particular focus on mental health. As a result, we have developed several projects that focus on giving people the space and time to engage with participatory arts as a gateway to developing skills, coping mechanisms and mindful practice. We recognise the transformative power of arts and culture in health and wellbeing, strongly supported by evidence, and champion it as a key element of our forward strategy.

Key challenges achieving this aim are engagement of people who require support, ensuring our support is still effective as we adapt it for COVID-19 conditions, building effective methodologies for evaluation, securing the necessary funding and training, and financial barriers including sustainability.

Success is a connected community, rich in social capital and the willingness to lend support to each other. Our vision is that local people automatically think about engaging creatively when having a bad day, that they understand that ours is not a clinical service, but a part of a holistic approach that helps them utilise selfexpression as a means to improve their physical and mental health. We will have functioning partnerships with health and social care providers including NHS, Health Improvement Teams, adult and child social services via local authorities, Day Centres and sheltered housing.

Our roadmap to success involves promoting and developing our ongoing Making Space and Art Journaling projects which have piloted our ideas about participatory arts and mental health. We will also seek further funding to develop and establish this programme as a feasible, long-term part of the local response to healthcare. Increasing local knowledge about what we do and establishing an effective engagement strategy will be key to making sure our aim is met successfully.