Variety and Accessibility of Mental Health Support: Artlift research student’s first thoughts

by | Nov 10, 2022 | News

Muhiba Delkic is currently studying towards a Master’s degree by Research in Psychological Sciences at the University of Gloucestershire and in collaboration with Artlift. Muhiba tells us how she arrived at her research topic, along with her  first thoughts around her research.

I am a qualified and practicing low-intensity CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) practitioner within the UK. Across my professional career, I have often worked with and supported co-morbid presentations of symptoms, ranging complexities and diverse backgrounds. Having highlighted this variety, there is often a lack of appropriate support methods offered within primary mental health care. With the steadily increasing mental health crisis reports across the population in combination with a further strained NHS, it is important to explore this in more detail.

It is now common practice for individuals to be recommended either appropriate medication or CBT within GP services, as recounted both personally and professionally. This is likely due to the speed of which symptoms can be improved (through anti-depressants) and the cost-effectiveness to the providers (of CBT). However, many of my own patients simply do not fit the criteria for either. I have observed that a major and pressing issue is increased loneliness and isolation. Although the evidence base and benefits of both anti-depressant medication and CBT are undeniable, it does not simply equate into the one size fits all ideology.

Therefore, I began investigating alternative support methods that could perhaps encourage more holistic benefits for individuals. As loneliness can be considered a more abstract challenge than a formal or diagnosed mental health condition, there is scope for less traditional avenues to be considered. This is how I discovered Arts on Prescription and its wide-ranging benefits. It aligns with non-traditional and non-clinical disciplines, yet introduces the types of courses I believe many individuals I have come across would find incredibly helpful.

I recognise the need to continuously evaluate the forms of treatment offered within UK primary health care services as they can affect the lives of millions and must remain dynamic alongside the continuous social changes we have all been experiencing. I worry that as therapeutic models such as CBT have initially been proven to be effective for a variety of mental health conditions and are short-term, it has been preferred over talking therapies such as counselling and offered as standalone support. However, growing evidence shows there are still limitations present.

Although I would agree that the UK has made a significant leap forward by committing to the CBT-based Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services currently operating, I believe there are further, emerging fields to also consider. This is where Arts on Prescription and Artlift come to mind. Although I am confident that more creative social projects would be invaluable to many people, I could only find such support options in localised areas of the UK when attempting to make additional referrals into them.

I have set out to not only add to the evidence base for the effectiveness of Arts on Prescription courses but to directly compare its impacts on wellbeing with the more established, widely available CBT. This is in collaboration with a leading Arts on Prescription provider, Artlift.

The qualitative study I am currently undertaking aims to investigate this in more detail by analysing in-depth the experiences of both CBT and Arts on Perception within a population of individuals who have completed both forms of support within the last decade. I hope to encourage more geographical areas within the UK to consider and offer the option of Arts on Prescription to individuals. Although existing research has already highlighted the cost-effective nature of Arts on Prescription courses, it is still considered relatively new and is therefore overlooked.

I am a strong advocate for increasing the variety and accessibility of mental health support and in particular, within the communities that are underrepresented within general referral figures. This could be due to a variety of factors, including the stigma of discussing mental health between cultures or the lack of representation within the therapist communities which further highlight the need to offer more novel approaches to effectively meet the diversity of patient needs. I am currently working on delivering this message through bespoke mental health workshops for corporate employees overseas. Mental health and work functionality are interchangeable, therefore promoting more holistic opportunities to improve wellbeing is crucial both personally and professionally.

If you would like to get involved in the current research study, please do get in touch with us at Artlift.

Are you a potential participant?

Refer yourselfIf you are an individual living in Gloucestershire and would like to put yourself forward for our Create Well, Living Well or Men's Wellbeing programmes, please...

Are you a health professional?

Refer to usIf you are a health, VCSE or social prescribing professional, or are working with a patient / service user who could benefit from Arts on Prescription please...