School of Allied Health and Social Care, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, United Kingdom.
School of Allied Health and Social Care, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Front Public Health. 2024 Jun 28;12:1386181. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1386181. eCollection 2024.
Mobilizing existing creative, cultural and community assets is seen as a crucial pathway to improving public health. Schools have been identified as key institutional community assets and arts-in-nature practice has been shown to promote children's mental health. The 'Branching Out' research investigated how an established arts-in-nature practice called 'Artscaping' could be scaled up through the mobilization of community assets including school staff and local volunteers to reach more children in primary schools.
The Branching Out model was piloted in six primary schools across Cambridgeshire with 'Community Artscapers' delivering 1.5-h Artscaping sessions with children outdoors for 8 weeks. Interviews were conducted with 11 Community Artscapers (six school staff and five volunteers) and four school leaders reflecting on their experiences of the Branching Out model and the data was subject to a reflexive thematic analysis.
The findings presented here discuss themes relating to mobilizing community assets, including framing the opportunity, recruiting and sustaining volunteers, training and supporting Community Artscapers, and tensions in roles and responsibilities. They also cover impacts for the children, including mental health provision, freedom in creativity and being outside, personal development, emotional impacts, and social connection, as well as impacts for the Community Artscapers, including making a difference, emotional wellbeing, personal and professional development, and connection and community.
These findings are considered in terms of their alignment with public health policy drivers and the potential for the Branching Out model to become replicable and self-sustaining across schools to promote children's mental health as a public health intervention.
调动现有的创意、文化和社区资产被视为改善公共卫生的关键途径。学校被确定为重要的社区机构资产，而自然艺术实践已被证明可以促进儿童的心理健康。“分枝”研究调查了如何通过调动包括学校工作人员和当地志愿者在内的社区资产，扩大一种名为“艺术景观”的成熟自然艺术实践，以惠及更多小学生。
“分枝”模式在剑桥郡的六所小学进行了试点，“社区艺术师”为孩子们提供为期 8 周、每次 1.5 小时的户外艺术景观课程。对 11 名社区艺术师（6 名学校工作人员和 5 名志愿者）和 4 名学校领导进行了访谈，他们回顾了“分枝”模式的经验，对数据进行了反思性主题分析。
本研究结果讨论了与调动社区资产相关的主题，包括阐述机会、招募和维持志愿者、培训和支持社区艺术师，以及角色和责任的紧张关系。还介绍了对儿童的影响，包括心理健康服务、创造力和户外自由、个人发展、情感影响和社交联系，以及对社区艺术师的影响，包括产生影响、幸福感、个人和专业发展以及联系和社区。
根据与公共卫生政策驱动因素的一致性，以及“分枝”模式在学校内推广以促进儿童心理健康的潜在可复制性和自我可持续性，对这些结果进行了讨论。
