Addressing the mental health and wellbeing risk from social isolation

Monaghan County Libraries, through the Healthy Monaghan Fund, delivered a Creative & Cultural Arts Community Programme in library branches across the county. This initiative uses creative & cultural arts to bring people together and improve their mental health and wellbeing. The programme was targeted at those most at risk of social isolation such as older adults and adults with disabilities, with a specific element of the programme designed for people with dementia.

The programme consisted of workshops in creative art, creative crafting, creative writing, and creative photography. In total, over 80 adults participated in the 6-week workshops, and such was the demand, additional workshops were rolled out for some of the different elements. The demand for all workshops far exceeded the availability and the programme had long wait lists.

The aims and objectives of the initiative included;

• Engage people who were not involved in other community groups or community-based activities.
• Use art, music, writing and other creative measures to relieve stress, ease tension and promote relaxation.
• Promote social interaction and bonding through group participation, resulting in reduced feelings of loneliness and isolation.
• Provide a sense of accomplishment, fulfilment, achievement from completing creative tasks resulting in improved self-confidence and motivation.

These aims and objectives were all achieved, post programme results demonstrated a significant rise in participants indicating they felt happy, calm, and peaceful as opposed to indicators in pre activity. Participants also indicated they felt less downhearted and nervous post activity compared to pre activity.

Community based solution based on learned experience.

This project came about because of the success of the Keep Well ‘Switching Off and Being Creative’ in 2021 and Healthy Ireland Community Arts programme in 2021/2022. After extensive evaluations of the projects, the learnings, the successes, and the opportunities were collated with the view of scaling up the initiative. On evaluation, it was clear that there was a need for community-based creative type activities that would assist people’s mental health and overall wellbeing.

Creative delivery based on participants needs

This innovative project used creative arts, a never before used method as a mechanism to engage people, allowing them to come together socially to partake, learn and enjoy an activity. The local community was involved in all stages of the development and delivery of this project. The collection of different creative workshops delivered in this project were done so based on the needs identified by community members. The objective of the project was to develop and deliver more cross community creative and arts programming which specifically focused on the needs of that community to promote the benefits of such on community members mental health and well-being.

This initiative was communicated and promoted through several different channels. Monaghan County Libraries as main delivery partner worked closely with Family Resource Centres, Monaghan Integrated, Care homes, Cairde Activation Centre, Camphill Community, Steadfast House, Cavan Monaghan Music Generation, Monaghan County Museum, Cavan Monaghan ETB, Age Friendly Monaghan, Healthy Monaghan, Parenting Groups and other relevant stakeholders in order to promote the programme and ensure that it was communicated to all different users of the various services provided at a local level. The project was also communicated through the local authority’s different media sources.

Positive impact on mental wellbeing with reduced social isolation.

This project was targeted at people who are most at risk of social isolation, those who are often marginalised in society and who are most in need of additional supports. Through the work of the Healthy Monaghan Fund and the County Libraries as well as other key stakeholders in Monaghan County Council, this target group are a key sector in providing additional supports and services to ensure they feel as though they have a place in local society.

The activities provided as part of this project were done so after extensive evaluation and consultation with the target groups. The project was aimed at enhancing the wellbeing of participants, and by engaging extensively with the target group this ensured that it was delivered in tandem with the needs and desires of the target sector. The target group benefitted by participating, as they were invested in the project as they had a key role in devising what activities were chosen.

On evaluation, outcomes were measured using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The main quantitative method used to measure the impact of the initiative was the recommended Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5) Questionnaire which was asked to participants pre and post initiatives. The purpose of this was to assess whether participants indicated an increase in positive mental health over the period of the project. Using a scoring matrix to determine overall positive mental health levels, post activity results demonstrated a significant rise in participants indicating they felt happy, calm, and peaceful as opposed to indicators in pre activity. Participants also indicated they felt less downhearted and nervous post activity compared to pre activity.

The feedback from the project has been overwhelmingly positive, with participants outlining how these activities have greatly helped them navigate many difficult recent challenges such as Covid-19, and the aftereffects of that such as social isolation. This innovative project seen a group of migrant men completing their own photographic exhibition after completing the creative photography workshops in the project.

The programme assisted the men in navigating cultural differences, build their confidence, and find beauty in their natural surroundings. Prior to this project, it had been difficult to engage this cohort in other projects.

The benefits for participants continue to be experienced.

One of the main aftereffects of the Covid-19 pandemic was an increase in people, particularly older people, experiencing social isolation, loneliness, and fear of returning to community-based activities. This project was aimed at providing a sustainable pathway for people back into participating in regular community activities and the activities chosen were done so to promote participant’s well-being. These activities, in most cases would not have been available otherwise, had it not been for the delivery of this initiative. When considering whether to fund this project the sustainability and long-term benefits were some of the key considerations when agreeing to undertake and fund the project. The nature of the content delivered empowers participants to find their creative talents, and once they have mastered them, they can continue to develop and deliver them post project.

The creative cafés have given participants the confidence to try out other library-based activities such as the Crosswords & Croissants weekly meeting, the Chess Club and the Yarney Army Knitting & Crochet group.  These activities offered alterative social opportunities for participants after the Creative Cafes programme had ended.

An example of how the project is both sustainable and provides societal benefits is evidenced in the creative photography workshops which were very popular with migrant men living in a direct provision centre. Upon completing the project, the men continued with the photography with the aim of completing their own photographic exhibition. By engaging in the project, the men became activated and continue to use their creative photographic talents.

Cross border Plan for expanding the programme in 2024 through joint funding initiative.

Evaluation of this project indicated that it had a profound impact on the participants who took part.  The project was designed to improve the confidence levels of older adults who had become socially isolated by enabling them to actively participate in group sessions and build relationships with other project participants. By engaging in the creative workshops participants indicated that they experienced a sense of accomplishment, fulfilment, and achievement from completing creative tasks, which in turn resulted in them feeling improved self-confidence and motivation.

This initiative relates to Goal 3 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. The initiative contributes to the achievement of this goal as its aim is to promote well-being for the older adults who participated. As a result of this Healthy Ireland funded initiative, this programme is to be scaled up in 2024 through Healthy Ireland Funding and Creative Ireland funding to bring this project to cross-border communities. To learn more about this project contact the Healthy Monaghan Coordinator at [email protected]