One in five children and young people (CYP) are currently experiencing poor mental health (MH). This constitutes a MH crisis that is alarming, raising concerns around the MH of future generations and the long-term consequences of poor early intervention.
MH is one of five priorities in the NHS Long Term Plan for 2019-2024; recent policy documents from Core20Plus5 reinforce the need to improve access to MH services for 0-17 year olds.
When treatment becomes available, NICE guidelines propose group Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), group non- directive supportive therapy (NDST) and group interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), as well as attachment family therapy or individual therapy.
However, these interventions rely on verbal interactions, and many CYP are unable or unwilling to talk about their thoughts and feelings. As a result, research suggests that drop-out rates in youth MH services may be as high as 30% to 40%. Talking therapies clearly are not meeting the MH needs of a large proportion of CYP.
Evidence suggests that the arts can tackle some of these concerns by, e.g., reducing depression, improving wellbeing and supporting social cohesion. For CYP and their families in particular, evidence of the benefits of arts activities was recognised in a Wellcome Trust scoping review, by systematic reviews of arts therapies and other research.
A pilot randomised controlled study we completed with 62 children, aged 9-11, attending primary schools in the North West showed life functioning (CORS) was improved after eight sessions of arts therapy. Change was sustained over a year, and the quality of children’s sleep improved, as indicated by activity watch scores (Moula, Powell and Karkou, 2020). Positive results were also found in a study with 26 neurodivergent CYP: social communication (SCQ) and emotional and behavioural (SDQ) scores improved after a dance movement psychotherapy group (Aithal, Powell, Makris, Karaminis and Karkou, 2022).
Despite the value of these interventions for CYP, and overwhelming requests from CYP themselves for creative approaches to support their MH, opportunities for creative engagement remain limited, especially in deprived areas in the North West.