Prevention programmes (sets of activities that aim to reduce risk factors and promote protective factors) run in schools could reduce mental illness in large numbers of young people. However, Dr Naomi Warne explains: “most available programmes do not provide enough support to teachers asked to deliver them and are not suitable for long-term use in schools. To make prevention programmes more feasible in schools, we need to co-develop programmes with school staff and students, and build on existing expertise within schools without the need for considerable training. For example, art teachers and staff already supporting student mental health may be able to support the therapeutic use of art.” 

Creative collaborative research 

Naomi plans to work with young people, parents, schools, art therapists and mental health professionals to:

1) a)Explore school staff’s current experiences of visual art to promote student mental health and understand what is needed to facilitate an art-based programme

    b)Assess barriers and facilitators for an art-based prevention programme in schools with young people, parents, school staff and creative therapists

2) Co-develop a novel art-based programme aimed at preventing anxiety and depression in UK secondary schools

3) Provide preliminary evidence of whether the programme can be implemented in schools

The research will be split into three phases: consultation, co-development of the programme, and preliminary evaluation. 

Consultation Study 1 

The first consultation study will ask visual art teachers and staff who support student mental health in UK secondary schools for their thoughts via an online survey and interviews. Individuals will be asked questions on:

• the current use of art to support student mental health,
• training to support student mental health,
• what an art programme should look like (e.g. who is delivering/supporting it, when and where should it be delivered),
• how to promote long-term use,
• potential concerns and safety issues. 

Consultation Study 2 

The second consultation study will be a series of creative focus groups with young people, parents, school teaching and support staff, school leaders, creative therapists, and mental health professionals. These groups will be asked to discuss their views on:

• pros/cons of using art to start discussions around mental health in schools,
• pros/cons of an art programme for whole classes or smaller groups,
• practicalities (who, where, when, how long),
• implementation barriers,
• integrating the art programme/creative values into school culture,
• safety and boundaries. 

Next steps 

The research team will then use the Person-Based Approach to co-develop an art programme with young people, parents, school staff, creative therapists, and other mental health professionals. The team will the work to optimise the programme before testing it in a preliminary evaluation. 

Making an impact 

Naomi explains what they hope to achieve with the project: “The main outcome of this research will be a co-developed art programme that can be used in schools to promote mental health in students. We will share our findings via academic papers, a co-produced animation, podcasts and other engaging ways to help others learn about the research. At the end of the project we will hold a public art and research exhibition to share some of the artwork created, discuss research findings and ask for views on what we should do next.”