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Digital Sandpit Panel Discussion: Recruiting Participants in the Arts and Health Sector

Panel discussion: recruiting participants in the Arts and Health sector. 

 

Recruiting participants is one of the most important parts of any project, this being said, it can often be the most tricky. As practitioners we often have these amazing ideas for projects which we take time making sure has the perfect plan, the right amount of funding, (the perfect biscuit even) but attracting the right people to participate can be difficult. 

 

In the most recent instalment of our digital sandpit series here at London Arts and Health, we hosted a panel discussion with leading practitioners in the field surrounding the topic of recruiting participants within the Arts and Health Sector. Our panel consisted of Dr, Katharine E. Low, Elijah Kellman and Shanika Warren. 

 

Dr. Katharine E. Low is a practitioner and researcher in socially engaged theatre and sexual health, with over 18 years’ experience both internationally and in the UK. She is also a Senior Lecturer in Applied Theatre and Community Performance at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Her practice lies in creating participatory-led theatre and creative arts-based practice with local communities to explore and gain greater understandings of the key health and social concerns facing their communities in South Africa, Tanzania and the UK. Katharine collaborates with medical practitioners and NGOs to co-facilitate projects based around sexual health and other health concerns. Katharine has published her research in a number of journals and her books include Applied Theatre and Sexual Health Communication: Apertures of Possibility (2020, Palgrave Macmillan) and Applied Theatre: Performing Health and Wellbeing with Veronica Baxter (2017, Bloomsbury Methuen).  

 

When asked what her main focus is when recruiting participants Dr Katharine Low Highlighted collaboration as being one of the key components in her practice with the emphasis on an invitation to a space where all feel welcome and safe. This is especially important within her work with Positively UK, a national organisation which aims to protect the health and wellbeing of people living with HIV by providing tailored peer support, promoting positive attitude and equitable access to health for people living with HIV. Invitation, Equity and Openness are three key words for her participant based sessions, noting that with these three words in mind when planning a session you are able to keep this offer of invitation available throughout, which creates an environment where all feel as comfortable as possible, therefore, allowing all to get as much out of the project as possible. 

 

Also noted is that the experience of the work doesn’t just occur when they are all within the room, we have to think about how they are getting to the venue? Do they need travel costs to be covered? What equipment am I providing so that we can communicate how much we care for their participation? Equity and Access is extremely important when thinking about recruitment. Dr Low’s advice on this consists of being as clear and open about these needs as possible. This ‘bluntness’ allows the conversation to be started prior to the participants having to worry about theses aspects, enabling the additional support to be available for participants to feel comfortable to communicate this. 

 

Additionally, Dr Low explained that for her, the location of the project is a vital part of the recruitment process, something that continues on this strand of an open invitation and accessibility. How do we as practitioners ensure that every single participant feels welcome in a space so they can gain as much out of the workshop as possible? This consideration of location is extremely important for the work that Kat does with the communities in South Africa and Tanzania as the politics of the location is something that can affect the participants’ receptiveness of the workshop. 

 

What happens to the participants once the project is completed? It is important to recognise that the work carried out in the space needs to have some continuity once completed, and thinking about how this is going to happen is another vital part of participation recruitment. Within her work, Dr Low ensures that there are always opportunities for participants to learn and grow, with chances for them to outgrow kats personal practice and become a practitioner themselves with the ability to lead their own projects. Additional partnership can be an excellent way for this continued support to be provided, allowing a place for participants to be held once you aren’t there anymore. 

 

To hear more from Dr Katharine E. Low, please follow this link to the Journal written in 2018 where she writes about ‘Ways of making: Artistic practice which works co-collaboratively, ethically and which celebrates and extends the conversation of what it means to live well with HIV’. 

 

 

Our next speaker of the night was the wonderful Elijah Kellman. A Social Prescribing Link Worker with a background in Health Psychology and holistic coaching. Previously, Elijah has helped individuals to meet their own health goals through motivational interviewing and co-established a Social Prescribing programme at UWE Bristol for university students with moderate mental health. Currently, Elijah is connecting outpatients of UCLH with arts/culture initiatives to address mental health needs within the Camden community and embed Social Prescribing practice within an acute care setting. 

 

When asked about his main focus on recruitment within his social prescribing work, Elijah really emphasised how participant centric this scheme and strand of treatment is which is the opposite of the work that both shanika and Dr Low does. However, he did highlight that it is based on the communication between the participant, their GP and himself to ensure that the right type of social prescribing is carried out. It is based about community cohesion and using the support structure already in place to achieve both subjective and clinical improvement. 

 

Elijah emphasised the importance of recording the data from the participants and how vital this is to ensure future funding and support. As Arts and health practitioners we are aware how hard it is to gain funding, especially for new projects, so this push towards written data is really vital for the longevity of the recruitment process. The severe lack of data within this industry means that it is highly important that we measure it ourselves to help others in the future. We know how fantastic Arts and community projects are for the importance of people’s wellbeing and health, but having the statistics to re-enforce this will make convincing people both outside and within our sector much easier. 

 

The main aspect of recruitment within Eliajh’s practice focuses stems from the participants GP. This is the structure that social prescribing recruitment is taking on currently in its early stages of development. It allows for an individual to be prescribed an activity such as art or dance etc which their doctor believes will help their ailment. And it is clear to see from the work Elijah has been doing that there is a strong argument for this to become more of a common occurrence. He noted that asking the participants what they feel would benefit them is also an important step in engaging them in the correct scheme, understanding what they wish to get out of the programme and what their interests are. This often consists on work within group settings as providing the sense of community and belonging, especially with university students is extremely important. The Involvement in these social prescribing events and activities resulted in clear progression, which was evident in how the participants viewed themselves, with more positive language and phrases being used. 

 

To learn more about social prescribing, please read our Arts and Culture: Social prescribing MythBuster guide.  

 

 

Our Third and Final Panelist was Emergency Exit Arts engagement officer, Shanika Warren. Shanika has experience in outreach and creative engagement within organisations such as Talawa Theatre company, Tenda Arts and London Bubble. Within her work she focuses on diversity, equity and inclusion within the arts sector and engages communities and young people in the arts. 

 

Shanika spoke about Creating Routes a training program as an example of participation recruitment for specific communities, a programme which she participated in, facilitated and now recruits for. Creating routes is a free practical training programme for BAME theatre makers and practitioners who want to use their creative skills in the community setting. Providing the trainees the opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills and experience needed to gain employment in the participatory Arts sector. As this training programme is specific to individuals from diverse backgrounds who have an interest in the arts, Shanika discussed how she, now as a recruiter for the programme, attracts the participants. Noting when discussing the ‘how’ in recruitment, we cannot rely on them coming to you, but we have to take the initiative to reach out to pre-existing networks which hold safe spaces for our desired demographic. This allows us to get a broader scope of participants and not simply those already immersed in the industry already. Creating Routes it’s a fantastic model of collaboration between 3 organisations and by reaching out to these wider demographics and communities we are able to start addressing the imbalance and unconscious bias in both the Arts and health sectors. 

 

When asked about reaching the people that take part in these programmes, Shanika highlighted the importance of familiarity, how in the trainee programmes she has created at Emergency Exit Arts, there is always someone local involved so that thy have an instant connection with the young people. Reflecting on the previous work she has done, Shaika also suggests having a frequently answered section, PDF or flyer so any worries that could be stopping people from signing up can be addressed quickly. Another format of this is having an email address or number specific to the programme as it allows the potential participants to feel connected to the work and gives them the agency to ask questions; an invitation to do so. Shanika also highlighted how practising mirroring within the practice are extremely important factors which draws participants in. How as practitioners we have a responsibility to represent the people we are trying to attract as it is vital to begin to create an equitable and equal space in our industry. Another top tip is doing the research on how other practitioners are recruiting participants; “Magpieing” ideas is a fantastic way to improve your facilitation and practice. 

 

 

It’s clear to see that there is so much more to recruiting participants than just a social media post or email and perfecting our approach as individual practitioners and as an industry is going to be an ongoing process. Where we learn and develop together to create a welcoming and safe space for our participants to join our projects and for us as creatives to provide these fantastic opportunities for the communities around us. 

 

A big thank you to Shanika Warren, Elijah Kellman and Dr Katharine Low for joining us on our Digital Sandpit session and for all those that joined us as we facilitated the discussion.

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