Creative health Patternmakers Creative health Patternmakers

Measuring the wellbeing benefits of Gallery engagement for young people

Patternmakers worked with MCA to explore whether MCA’s GENEXT, a festival-style event for young people, had benefits for their mental health and wellbeing.

We worked with the Museum of Contemporary Art to evaluate their GENEXT Program, a festival-style event for people aged 12-18 years featuring live music, performances and art- making and interactive experiences.

We explored how GENEXT impacts individuals in real time and later in life through a series of interviews with key stakeholders, two focus groups, a series of observations, and a survey of over 1,000 past and present GENEXT attendees. We sought contributions from experts in mental health, government funding and the arts.

Our research proved that GENEXT positively impacts young people’s mental health and well-being while also helping them to cultivate their creativity and experience a sense of belonging.

The work has been used in conversations with funders and has been presented at conferences internationally, adding to the knowledge base in a growing field.

Visit out publications page to read the report.

Image credit: MCA, David Goldblatt

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Evaluation, Creative health Patternmakers Evaluation, Creative health Patternmakers

The Impact of Youth Theatre on Mental Health

We worked with ATYP to explore the impact of youth theatre on mental health and launch the findings at the Arts & Health Conference.

We worked with ATYP to explore the impact of youth theatre on mental health and launch the findings at the Arts & Health Conference.

This project involved a review of existing research, and new qualitative and quantitative research including depth interviews, an online discussion board and a survey of 1,200 parents, participants and stakeholders. We also provided advice on an organisation-wide research framework.

The results demonstrated the positive impacts of participating in theatre for young people, and the importance of theatre skills in building self confidence, communications skills and resilience. The findings were published in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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Creative health Patternmakers Creative health Patternmakers

The impact of choral participation

In 2019 and 2020, we worked with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and choral groups around NSW to evaluate the impact of choral participation. With over 2,800 participants, it is the largest ever study of choral participation in the world.

In 2019 and 2020, we worked with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs to evaluate the impact of choral participation. This is the largest study of its kind ever conducted in Australia, with over 2,800 participants.

This work involved a series of depth interviews with stakeholders, focus groups current and past choristers, and singers in the broader community. A second objective of the study involved surveying other choristers in NSW and ACT about the impacts of choral singing.

The study highlighted chorister experiences and domains of impact and identified opportunities for future development as the organisation celebrated its centenary year.

Image Credit: https://www.sydneyphilharmonia.com.au/

 
 

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