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News from the Culture Box

Dr Chloe Asker (Post Doctoral Research Associate) reflects on methodologies in arts and health research that have become so important during the pandemic and shares some updates on the Culture Box project. Introducing the Culture Box project In recent years, there has been a growing interest in person-centred approaches to engage people with dementia in […]

Nature and Sustainability

Arts and Humanities research on Covid-19 often has a bearing on environmental sustainability and the relationship between the individual and their natural environment.  Research on how to help the creative industries weather the shocks of lockdowns has notably explored digital media as a low-carbon alternative to travel and designed digital platforms that enable new forms of virtual co-presence. Performance practitioners have also turned […]

Culture Box: Remote and Digital Delivery of Arts and Creative Activities to Improve the Wellbeing of People with Dementia in Care Homes

About the project People living with dementia in care homes were severely negatively impacted during the Covid-19 pandemic. Those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups were disproportionately affected. This project investigated whether remotely and digitally provided interactive arts and creative activities (Culture Boxes) could alleviate social isolation and improve the wellbeing of residents […]

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The Digital Beyond. Has COVID-19 transformed digital memorialisation?

Dr Eleanor O’Keeffe worked as Post Doctoral Research Associate on the AHRC funded project British Ritual Innovation under COVID-19. Here, she discusses some of her research into digital adoption in response to the pandemic. Sequoia Nagamatsu’s 2022 novel How High We Go in the Dark, which was started before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, offers us […]

Grading Gowns: Redesigning One-size PPE to Fit and Protect Female Health Workers More Effectively

About the project This research analysed the design and procurement of PPE (personal protective equipment) for the comfort and safety of healthcare workers. It identified a number of key issues relating to gown fabrication, length, fastenings, and intended wear that impeded safe use by healthcare workers, particularly women and women from ethnic minorities. It investigated […]

Places and Communities

The challenges of the pandemic have often demanded local and place-based responses that can speak directly to the needs of particular communities.  Through Arts and Humanities research, we now know more about the way in which local cultural ecologies and infrastructures function, including how these have been impacted by the crisis. Studies have emphasised the […]

Healthcare

Arts and Humanities researchers have highlighted the complex and difficult situations in which health and care staff have found themselves during the pandemic. Studies have developed tools to guide ethical and transparent decision-making and identify and assess risk in healthcare environments. Research and design skills have been applied to PPE, immunity passports and public-facing rapid […]

Guidance, Messaging and Behaviour Change

Arts and Humanities research during the pandemic has been vital in helping us understand how public health messages are received within different communities, how communication platforms affect interpretation and reach, and how effective messaging can combat misinformation and build public trust.  Researchers have investigated how rumours and conspiracy theories originate, how they spread and the […]

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

The pandemic has highlighted systemic inequalities across society. An interest in exploring and addressing these has been explicit in or threaded through many of the AHRC-funded COVID-19 studies.  Researchers have explored how public health messaging might better reach different communities. They have also shone a spotlight on experiences of racism for people working in the […]

Arts & Health and Wellbeing

Arts and humanities research during the COVID-19 pandemic has addressed issues of direct relevance for the support of individual, social and community health, mental health and wellbeing.  Findings show that during the pandemic, the social care sector and the NHS have been able to access, benefit and learn from community assets and resources, including those […]