The Art of Wellbeing: Mental Health Recovery by Design

Synopsis

This presentation will explore a joint project undertaken by the University of Lincoln and NHS Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (LPFT). In 2020 LPFT secured substantial funding to undertake the eradication of dormitory accommodation by designing and building an extension to the Peter Hodgkinson Acute Mental Health Centre at Lincoln County Hospital. As part of this project University of Lincoln colleagues Dr Steve Fossey (Associate Professor in Fine Art) and Rachel Baynton (Associate Professor and Creative Producer) were asked to design and lead a series of workshops with students, patients, and experts by experience to co-design two large artworks drawing on principles of mindfulness and grounding. These artworks were completed in 2023 and now support a therapeutic healing environment at the centre.

Leading on from the creation and installation of the artworks, Fossey and Baynton developed an innovative 3D digital model of the new facilities and the artworks in situ to enable a greater understanding of how acute mental health facilities are designed and used, and how art enables recovery. Using visualisation software, the new building is now accessible as a virtual space that is creating opportunities for enhanced staff training. The workshops that led to the production of the artworks and the 3D visualisation that provides greater accessibility for both staff and the public are part of what Fossey and Baynton see as a novel approach to wellbeing design. The term ‘design’ is used to embody a multicomponent, multimodal approach to improving wellbeing which imbricates community engagement, patient-student workshop collaboration, installation of art in hospitals, and the utilising of interactive technologies in mental health facilities. The latest phase of the project has seen Fossey and Baynton working with occupational therapists to design a creative toolkit for use on the wards. For the Design in Mental Health Conference Fossey and Baynton will present the 3D digital model, using it as a platform to communicate this multicomponent approach to mental health recovery by design.