Research Laboratory for Art and Technology (RELATE) with support from Nordjysk Center for Kultur og Sundhed (NOCKS) announces two newly funded Arts & Health initiatives with national and international NGOs. “Creating the Bridges: art therapy for families with the special child” and “Moving Together: Using Dance To Reduce Loneliness” focus on creative approaches for supporting mental and physical health and improving well-being. More information on each project below:
Creating the Bridges: art therapy for families with the special child
The project develops and evaluates art interventions to support families of children with disabilities.
Art therapy is an integrative health and human service profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative processes, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship. The project provides wellbeing and welfare for those families who have children with disabilities. Partners in the project will organize art therapy based sessions for the target groups which are both siblings and parents of the children with disabilities. In addition, the project will result in a pilot-research study, led by RELATE, and online manual, based on the exploratory study with these target groups (parents and siblings).
The project is led by Mā TELPA in Latvia and the Association for Integrated Dance in Denmark, an organization dedicated to promoting dance and social integration through workshops that bring people and communities closer together.
The initiative is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Grant Programme for Nordic-Baltic Non-Governmental Organisations’.
Moving Together: Using Dance To Reduce Loneliness
Moving Together uses dance to bring people and communities together to create value for older adults experiencing loneliness, in particular those affected by social isolation exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Older adults are at great risk for compounding mental and physical health problems as a direct result from self-isolation and sedentary behavior. The project develops a series of online (remote) and in-person dance workshops to decrease isolation and increase motivation for physical and social activities, thereby strengthening overall mental health and improving Quality of Life through joyful and social physical activities.
The project is developed in coordination with Aalborg Municipality, The Rhythmic in Nordkraft and the Association for Integrated Dance in Denmark, an organization dedicated to promoting dance and social integration through workshops that bring people and communities closer together.
The project is a collaboration between Rogerio Hirata, Department of Health Science and Technology, Elizabeth Jochum, Department of Communication and Psychology, Aalborg Municipality, The Rhythmic in Nordkraft and Association for Integrated Dance in Denmark. Together the partners are working to establish evidenced-based approaches that link arts and culture activities with social integration and improving health and wellbeing.
The project builds on a current research project at AAU on dance and movement training with older adults. We believe a more holistic evaluation will enable researchers and clinicians to address loneliness directly, while also identifying key factors that influence motivation, participation, and ongoing involvement with physical activity, which may eventually lead to sustainable, long-term solutions for loneliness.
The project is funded by Tryg Foundation with 802,000 DKK
For more information on both projects:
