Mary Robson - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Mary Robson

Nordic journal of arts, culture and health, Dec 2, 2020

Purpose: For years, the Arts and Health (AaH) movement has been guided by values of art for art's... more Purpose: For years, the Arts and Health (AaH) movement has been guided by values of art for art's sake, practitioner as Artist and artist as Outsider. These values are instrumental to the effectiveness of AaH as a relational and processdriven tool for individual empowerment, collective health activism and social change. This paper explores how the AaH movement, together with the artists operating as AaH practitioners, has responded to the political and economic and policy transitions of recent years. Methodology: This paper critically analyses and updates the frequently-cited Diamond model of Smith (2003) and Macnaughton, White and Stacy (2005) exploring how and why, within a UK context of neoliberalism, austerity and evidence-based practice, AaH is being increasingly drawn into the methods and governance of medical and rehabilitative services. Findings: Whenever AaH in the UK is governed by health services, it becomes reconceptualised as therapy or treatment. It risks relinquishing its artistic and philosophical identity and distinctive effectiveness. Originality: This paper builds upon the Diamond model to present two new models, the Stalactite and the Helictite. These new models conceptualise the current situation and the potential future fragmentation of the AaH movement, highlighting how AaH might remain faithful to its core values. Keywords Arts and health, arts as treatment, participatory arts, artists in health settings, social prescribing Arts and Health (AaH) and the AaH 'movement' "Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here!" (Rowling, 1997, p. 95

CRC Press eBooks, Dec 14, 2018

Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2022

Introduction The exploitation, poor conditions, and precarity in the bidi (hand-rolled leaf cigar... more Introduction The exploitation, poor conditions, and precarity in the bidi (hand-rolled leaf cigarette) industry in India make it ripe for the application of the FCTC’s Article 17, “Provision of support for economically viable alternative activities”. “Bottom-up”, participatory approaches give scope to explore bidi rollers’ own circumstances, experiences, and aspirations. Methods A team of six community health volunteers using a participatory research orientation developed a questionnaire-based semi-structured interview tool. Forty-six bidi rolling women were interviewed by pairs of volunteers in two northern Tamil Nadu cities. Two follow-up focus groups were also held. A panel of 11 bidi rollers attended a workshop at which the findings from the interviews and focus groups were presented, further significant points were made and possible alternatives to bidi rolling were discussed. Results Bidi workers are aware of the adverse impact of their occupation on them and their families, a...

University-community collaborations focused on arts in health This article describes a number of ... more University-community collaborations focused on arts in health This article describes a number of community-based arts in health projects in schools and disadvantaged communities in Northern England that connect with the interdisciplinary research interests of the Centre for Medical Humanities at Durham University. In 2000, we were invited to become associates of the newly established centre (at that time, known as the Centre for Arts and Humanities in Health and Medicine). We brought with us a portfolio of arts and health projects, underpinned by a growing funded research agenda. White took up the post of Senior Research Fellow in Arts in Health and Robson became Associate Artist for Arts in Health and Education. We have a background in arts management and practice, often within community health contexts, and with a pedagogic role of facilitating emotional health and wellbeing in

Narratives in health and social care: truths in context; truths in contest?

Nordic Journal of Arts, Culture and Health, 2020

Health & Place, 2012

Intervention to enhance wellbeing through participation in the creative arts has a transformative... more Intervention to enhance wellbeing through participation in the creative arts has a transformative potential, but the spatialities to this are poorly theorised. The paper examines arts-based interventions in two primary schools in which small groups of children are taken out of their everyday classrooms to participate in weekly sessions. The paper argues that such intervention is usefully seen as a practice of liminality, a distinct time and space that needs careful management to realise a transformative potential. Such management involves negotiating multiple sources of tension to balance different modes of power, forms of art practices and permeability of the liminal time-space.

Primary Care in Urban Disadvantaged Communities, 2018

Recounting stories is a powerful medium through which humans frame and reframe their experience. ... more Recounting stories is a powerful medium through which humans frame and reframe their experience. Within health care patients are encouraged to tell their own stories and these have growing relevance in diagnosis and management. This paper uses one autobiographical account, written for the authors, to explore some of the issues this raises. It is argued that whilst stories have an important role to play, they may also be counterproductive to full understanding and management of health and illness.

Journal of Applied Arts & Health, 2014

ABSTRACT The field of arts in health is developing globally. Partly constituting notes from the f... more ABSTRACT The field of arts in health is developing globally. Partly constituting notes from the field, and partly setting out a prospectus for future action and enquiry, this article provides a descriptive account of an initiative called Critical Mass which, through a series of colloquia that began in 2011, is building an international network for collaboration and exchange in the research and practice of community-based arts in health. In describing the process of these meetings we set out the common ground and the practical and theoretical issues that both support and challenge effective arts in health work across different territories, cultures and healthcare systems. We present a case study example of an artist exchange between Northern England and Western Australia. Progress to date suggests that the Critical Mass initiative is focussed on reflective practice in community-based arts in health, and that practical collaborations are characterized by a spirit of co-production with an emphasis on relationship-based working rather than an overarching strategy.

Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, 2011

Journal of Medical Humanities, 2014

This paper describes the development of two annual lantern parades as case examples of arts in co... more This paper describes the development of two annual lantern parades as case examples of arts in community health, which the authors define as a distinct area of activity operating mainly outside of acute healthcare settings, characterised by the use of participatory arts to promote health. The parades took place in Gateshead 1994Gateshead -2006 and later in Stocktonon-Tees from 2009 to the present, and the paper reflects on the factors that made for the success of the Gateshead parade and also the problems that led to its demise. It then describes and assesses the Stockton parade, and the benefits and challenges of a workshop ethos of 'positive regard' with reference to interview data gathered from adult volunteers and school staff. It considers the potential of this annual 'tradition' to shape communal memories that identify with place, and it sets out its aspirations for future programme and research. This paper presents a collaborative reflection between a researcher and an artist who have been deeply embedded within the arts and community work. It offers a subjective, positioned account of lantern parade work with a view to its future. The authors have been involved in the creation and support of lantern parades for over twenty-five years, increasingly in the context of public health and social pedagogy. This embedded positioning has facilitated research and evaluation through a working practice influenced by the understandings of Rogers about 'positive regard' (1959) and Oldenburg's theory of 'Third Space' (2000). The key characteristics of 'Third Place', as delineated by Oldenburg, are that it provides a neutral ground for non-hierarchical communication and playfulness in a congenial and homely atmosphere. Applying these ideas to our approach has provided us with a philosophically informed pragmatism that frames the work in diverse and challenged communities. Our paper aims to give an informed, affective description of significant steps and processes within our community-based arts in health projects.

Journal of Public Mental Health, 2007

It has been argued that arts participation may be 'more potent than anything medicine has to... more It has been argued that arts participation may be 'more potent than anything medicine has to offer' (Smith, 2002).Travelling further upstream from the government's initiatives to improve access to talking therapies as a solution to the mounting burden of depression, this paper ...

Health Care Analysis, 2009

This paper offers a brief consideration of how narrative, in the form of people"s own stories, po... more This paper offers a brief consideration of how narrative, in the form of people"s own stories, potentially figures in health and social care provision as part of the impulse towards patient-centred care. The rise of the epistemological legitimacy of patients" stories is sketched here. The paper draws upon relevant literature and original writing to consider the ways in which stories can mislead as well as illuminate the process of making individual treatment care plans.

Books by Mary Robson

Interrogating ‘evidences’ of impact, we encounter a critical quagmire in understanding the agency... more Interrogating ‘evidences’ of impact, we encounter a critical quagmire in understanding the agency of socially situated arts practices. Evaluation stipulations, in accounting for granted resources, will specify a transparent process, assessing project effectiveness using the applicants’ originally agreed aims and objectives as the framework. This in itself sounds straightforward, appropriate and fair. However, when excavating the terrain in order to respond responsibly to this duty to provide ‘evidence of impact’, contradictory expectations, unclear concepts and inconsistent demands are unearthed. For practitioners everywhere, fulfilling the requirement to evaluate the work is currently an unduly taxing, anxiety-inducing dimension of delivering arts projects with communities. In this chapter we seek to illuminate some of this complex landscape from arts organisations’ perspectives, and how the ragged nature of the evidence debate impacts on project delivery and morale. Drawing on examples from practice we respond by mapping possible routes through the evidence terrain.