Nuala Morse, Research Associate, University of Manchester / UCL CultureThomas Kador, Teaching Fellow in Public & Cultural Engagement, UCL Culture

University College London

Measuring and evaluating the wellbeing benefits

of museum & cultural activities

UCL Culture

Museums & Collections

• 3 Public Museums (Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology,

Grant Museum of Zoology and UCL Art Museum)

• >15 Collections: Anthropology, Archaeology, Electrical

Engineering, Geology, Physiology, Medical Physics and other

sciences

• c. 800,000 Objects

Theatre & Public Engagement Unit

Learning with Objects

• Mostly formed as teaching collections

• University collections were pioneers in object-based learning

• Object-based learning was an integral part of the student experience in

19th and early 20th centuries

UCL Slade Art School students working

from the cast collection in the 1880’s.

Students in 1887 studying comparative

anatomy using specimens from the

Grant Museum of Zoology.

Objects and wellbeing

‘The effect in sickness of beautiful objects, and especially of brilliancy of colour is hardly at all appreciated [by the authorities]…

[…the] variety of form and brilliance of colour in the objects presented to patients are actual means of recovery’.

(Florence Nightingale 1860)

Santa Maria della Scala Hospital, Siena

(Pilgrim’s Hall)

10 years of our research shows that

museums benefit health and wellbeing through:

• positive social experiences, leading to reduced social isolation

• opportunities for learning and acquiring news skills

• calming experiences, leading to decreased anxiety

• increased positive emotions, such as optimism, hope and

enjoyment

• increased self-esteem and sense of identity

• increased inspiration and opportunities for meaning making

• distraction from clinical environments, incl. hospitals and care

homes

• increased communication between families, carers and health

professionals

Chatterjee and Noble (2013) Museums, Health and Well-being. Routledge.

https://museumsandwellbeingalliance.wordpress.com/

@museumwellbeing• Mapping wellbeing activity

• Sharing information & signposting to useful resources

• Advocacy and awareness

• Supporting museums and health professionals

• Writing guides to help navigate cultural commissioning process

Audiences

• More focus on illness than on health, wellbeing and prevention

• Single largest audience: older adults

• Some interesting physical health categories (cancer, stroke, brain injury)

• Role for museums as consultants in creating spaces for wellbeing

• Download the interim report here

• 3 year Research Council funded project (2008-2011)

• Aim: To assess the value of museum object handling as

a therapeutic or enrichment activity/intervention within

healthcare (hospitals and care homes).

Images ©

UC

L M

useum

s

Heritage in Hospitals

• AHRC funded (2014-2017)

• Investigating the value of museum encounters in social

prescribing for socially isolated, vulnerable and lonely

older people

• Referrals through local NHS (Nat. Health Service) and

Local Authority Adult Social Care services, to partner

museums in Central London and Kent.

Not So Grim up North

• 3 year research project (2015-2018) with

the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester

Museum, and Tyne & Wear Archives &

Museums funded by ACE;

• Investigating the impact of museum

activities for people living with dementia,

stroke rehabilitation patients, mental

health and addiction recovery service-

users;

• In partnership with the NHS, Adult Social

Care services and Third Sector

organisations in Greater Manchester and

Tyne and Wear.

UCL Museum Wellbeing Measures Toolkit

Authors

Dr Linda J Thomson & Dr Helen J Chatterjee

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/research/touch/ucl-museum-wellbeing-measures-toolkit.pdf

Developed with 30 museums to

assess the impact of museum

participation on psychological

wellbeing

Measuring the impact

Positive mood Negative mood

Active

Alert

Attentive

Determined

Enthusiastic

Excited

Inspired

Interested

Proud

Strong

Afraid

Ashamed

Distressed

Guilty

Hostile

Irritable

Jittery

Nervous

Scared

Upset

Clinical scales of measurement used to evaluate psychological

and subjective wellbeing before and after the handling session

PANAS - Positive Affect

Negative Affect Schedule

(Watson et al. 1988) 10

positive and 10 negative

moods rated on 1 - 5

scale

VAS - Visual Analogue

Scale (EuroQol 1990)

Wellness and Happiness

rated on zero - 100 scale

1 2 3 4 5

not at all a little moderately quite a bit extremely

UCL Wellbeing Measuring Toolkit

Museums Wellbeing Umbrellas:

Future ideas

• Umbrellas used to set individual goals for people who are

socially excluded, confused or nervous

• Non-verbal umbrellas, using facial expressions

Activity

Defining the ‘right’ measures for wellbeing

- In groups of 3-4 (ideally with one person from a healthcare

background in each group)

- Define a cultural setting (museum, gallery, heritage site, library, etc)

- Decide on a client group for a wellbeing activity (psychiatric

patients, stroke survivors, people with dementia, in addiction

recovery…)

- Now look at the sample umbrellas and discuss which

measures might be most appropriate to assess object-based /

cultural activities with the given group and setting

- Are the words on one of the umbrellas appropriate for your

situation or would you like to design a new one?

- Consider how you could work with your client group to develop

appropriate evaluation measures

Thank you

nuala.morse@manchester.ac.uk

t.kador@ucl.ac.uk

https://museumsandwellbeingalliance.wordpress.com