- Title
- A multisensory experience of art: transforming everyday spaces into 'otherworldly' places to support health and wellbeing
- Creator
- Cavanagh, Bliss
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2021
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- There is an emergence of interest in trans-disciplinary research exploring the arts and health sciences in order to solve contemporary health problems. Together they may play a proactive role in supporting the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities. Evidence for these benefits are attributed to, and range across, a breadth of research fields. However, one thing remains constant: “We are sensory beings in a sensory world – inseparable from it” (Erwine 2017, p. 36). It is now time to pursue research that sees a co-operative engagement between art and the health sciences for its benefits in the non-clinical health sector. This thesis uses a trans-disciplinary approach to explore the notion of an artistically created, multisensory environment and its potential to improve health and wellbeing outcomes in non-clinical and community contexts. A creative ‘practice-led’ research approach was used to navigate traditional health territories, producing a hybrid thesis that incorporates three manuscripts and a creative component. The creative component of this research involved the making of an artistically created multisensory environment, The Sensory-Art Space (SAS), which is documented in three artist books. The SAS formed the intervention for the subsequent research. In the thesis, I report on the research that investigated the experience and effects of spending time in the SAS on aspects of mental health and wellbeing using a mixed-methods approach. Participants in the research included 224 students and staff members of a university community. The collective research findings support the SAS as a restorative environment and a potential self-care strategy for positive emotion regulation, relaxation and stress reduction. This research is the first to explore the use of an artistically designed sensory room for non-clinical populations and encourages the potential use for multisensory interventions in everyday built environments. The findings identify new territory for artists as an important resource in the creation and development of new restorative and health-promoting spaces in public health.
- Subject
- arts and health; sensory rooms; multisensory environments; receptive arts engagement; mixed methods; mental health and wellbeing; restorative environments; trans-disciplinary research; thesis by publication
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1503489
- Identifier
- uon:55336
- Rights
- Copyright 2021 Bliss Cavanagh
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 18 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 3 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |