Embedding arts-based approaches within arts venues as a referral route for peri-natal infant mental health

Art at the Start – Embedding arts-based approaches within arts venues as a referral route for peri-natal infant mental health to provide early and equal access to creative health.

Art at the Start, a collaborative project between the University of Dundee and Dundee Contemporary Arts, has been offering a range of arts-based interventions to promote the mental health and wellbeing of parents and 0–3-year-old infants since 2018. These include art therapy sessions, targeted outreach, public messy play sessions, and art boxes for use at home to support vulnerable families during COVID-19 lockdown. The programme focusses on reaching families vulnerable to poor attachment relationships and facing multiple deprivations and mental health difficulties as well as encouraging all families to engage in interactive play through shared art-making.

In the art therapy sessions, the infants were found to be wide open to the process of art making, of receiving help, of feeling connected, and working together in a manner that all the grown-ups involved in the project could see and learn from. It was clear that infants were available for emotional connection when this was offered, and consequently very small changes in behaviour from their important adults that offered more connection potential, had a large impact. The art making process was a perfect vehicle for this increased connection. In a control trial using evaluation measures before and after attending, significant improvements were shown in the parents’ wellbeing, as well as a significant improvement in a measure of how they perceived their relationship with their baby, and observable changes in behaviour.

“I felt that we were more bonded, it felt that he liked me and that he was enjoying playing with me.” – Parent who attended art therapy group

As part of the Mobilising Community Assets to Tackle Health Inequalities research programme, Art at the Start was scaled up to new gallery sites across Scotland, feeding into current governmental and NHS drives to offer diverse and sustainable perinatal and infant mental health provision. Using a participatory action research model, the University of Dundee research team employed and embedded arts therapists within four arts galleries across Scotland (Dundee Contemporary Arts; Tramway, Glasgow; Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum and Arts Centre, North Uist; Dunfermline Carnegie Libraries and Galleries, Fife) to deliver therapeutic and participative opportunities to harness the public health value of increasing access to the arts. The research team also trained and supervised art therapists within two externally funded satellite sites using the same model (NHS Lothian community perinatal team within the Fruitmarket gallery in Edinburgh; CrossReach perinatal support charity within the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh). The therapeutic interventions took self-referrals, referrals from health visitors, family nurse teams, educators, third sector teams and NHS perinatal and/or infant mental health teams in their respective areas. The results showed that the approach could be replicated elsewhere, and again showed improvement to wellbeing, perception of the relationship, and an increase in the positive developmental and relational opportunities for the infants.

The project has highlighted how art making can help infants to see their own agency through mark making and can offer them a vehicle for early communication. Art at the Start have been actively involved in the development of the Scottish Government Voice of the Infant Best Practice Guidelines and Infant Pledge. The Voice of the Infant best practice guidelines provide direction on how to take account of infants’ views and rights in all encounters. They offer suggestions on how those who work with babies and very young children can notice, facilitate and share the infant’s feelings, ideas and preferences that they communicate through their gaze, body language and vocalisations. Art at the Start are proud to be included as a case study of best practice in this documentation, representing their commitment to supporting equity of all voices in parent-infant relationships.

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