Health and Wellbeing Promotion with Using Creative Approaches

11.08.2023
The project team in Athens in September 2022. From left: Konstantinou Eleni, Eva Bojner Horwitz, David Thyrén, Mark Rietema, Ieva Petkuté and Anna-Mari Rosenlöf. In the front from left: Evanthia Sakellari and Liisa-Maria Lilja-Viherlampi. Photo: UNIWA.

In the ARTHEWE project the Department of Public and Community Health at the University of West Attica coordinated codeveloping and piloting a 2 ECTS course module Health and Well-being Promotion through Creative Methods. The aim of the development work was to add creative strategies and approaches for health and wellbeing promotion for different target groups in the population.

By completing the course, the students gained experiences and knowledge how to apply creative methods and approaches to different health and wellbeing promotion interventions at individual and community level.

Here you will find materials and results of developing the course.

A gropu of pepole writing in a seminar hall.
Codevelopment of the ARTHEWE contents in Athens in September 2022. Photo: Anna-Mari Rosenlöf.

1. Course Syllabus Health and Well-being Promotion through Creative Methods (2 ECTS)

The course syllabus with learning outcomes, content, resources, activities, course evaluation and relevant literature can be found here:
SyllabusHealth and Well-being Promotion through Creative MethodsUNIWA (PDF format)
SyllabusHealth and Well-being Promotion through Creative Methods UNIWA (Word document)

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Inside an old library with old books, statues and ladders.
The old library of Trinity College Dublin, one of the ARTHEWE project partners. Photo: Anna-Mari Rosenlöf.

2. Literature list

Literature supports the fact that creativity and art can be a valuable aspect of health and wellbeing. Health professionals in collaboration with artists may involve creative and artistic activities that promote health and wellbeing at individual or community level. This literature list provides some evidence and useful sources in regard to health promotion with the use of creative methods.

The literature list can be found here: Health and Well-being Promotion through Creative methods literature list UNIWA (PDF format).

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Group of people dancing and moving together.
The ARTHEWE team visited a centre run by a local mental health association the PanHellenic Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation & Work Integration (PEPSAEE). We had a wonderful afternoon together doing drama exercises and getting to know each other. Photo: UNIWA.

3. Presentation material for health & wellbeing promotion through creative methods

This PowerPoint presentation defines the concepts of health, health promotion, creativity, and arts in health in the course context.

The presentation can be downloaded here: PPT presentation Health and Wellbeing Promotion through Creative Methods UNIWA  (PowerPoint Presentation).
The presentation in PDF format: PDF presentation Health and Wellbeing Promotion through Creative Methods UNIWA (PDF format).

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A person with an open book telling about the drawings in the book for a group of people in a museum.
Artist Theodora Kokkinou guiding an experimental tour for the ARTHEWE team in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens in September 2022. Photo: Ieva Petkuté.

4. Presentation material for promoting health and wellbeing through art

This PowerPoint presentation opens up in a simple way the concept art, art as a process, medium and vital space and different art forms in the course context. The presentation can also be watched and listened to on a video (duration 35:05 minutes).

The presentation can be downloaded here: PPT presentation Promoting Health & Well-being through Art simple presentation UNIWA (PowerPoint Presentation).
The presentation in PDF format: PDF presentation Promoting Health & Well-being through Art simple presentation UNIWA (PDF format).
The presentation video (YouTube).

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A group of people painting and drawing in a seminar hall.
Experiencing an art workshop together with the ARTHEWE team in Athens in September 2022. The workshop was guided by artist Theodora Kokkinou. Photo: UNIWA.

5. Art-Workshop Guide

When piloting the course, the students got involved with different forms of art and creative activities such as creative writing, painting, drawing, and taking photographs. In the art workshop developed and piloted during the course two paintings were used as references and sources of inspiration for the students to create their own artworks. An art exhibition of the artworks created by the students was arranged in Facebook.

Detailed instructions of the art workshop can be found here: Art-workshop guide UNIWA (PDF format).

The art exhibition can be accessed here (a public Facebook group).

The art exhibition catalogue can be found here (in Greek): Catalogue of the Exhibition.

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A person writes with pen on paper at the tableBy Artur
Creative writing exercises are usually very easy to implement remotely as part of online education. Photo: Adobe Stock.

 6. Creative Exercise: Creativity in Classroom for Health Promotion

When piloting the course, the students got involved with different forms of art and creative activities such as creative writing, painting, drawing, and taking photographs. This creative writing exercise was made as part of the course online with postgraduate students from the Department of Public and Community Health of UNIWA using MS Teams-platform. The exercise was guided by Turku University of Applied Sciences. There is a short video (YouTube, duration 2:09 minutes) about exercise and the poems and other short texts of the students.

The exercise is a part of the Toolkit of Creative Exercises.

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Sun shines through the leaves of the trees.
Digital storytelling was one of the creative methods experimented in the ARTHEWE project. Photo: A still photo from the digital story of UNIWA.

7. Digital Story

As part of the ARTHEWE project the partners practiced and used digital storytelling methods. A short digital story video (duration 2:51 minutes) of the development work about health and wellbeing promotion with using creative approaches, coordinated by UNIWA, can be accessed here (YouTube).