PhD Courses in Denmark

Deadline for registration and paper: June 30 (https://phd.moodle.aau.dk/course/index.php?categoryid=305)

Description of paper requirements (for upload in phdmoodle):

Before the class: ALL students should prepare a short presentation (7 minutes max, 3 slides maximum), giving an overview of their PhD projects, including 1. Motivation & Theoretical Framework, 2. Method and, 3. Expectations/Challenges. These presentations will be given on Day 1 in plenum, and will form the basis of project work and group discussions. After the class: Students should prepare a written paper (approx. 5-7 pages, excluding references) relating to their research project.

This PhD course prepares students to conduct empirical studies using mixed methods research tool to evaluate various Arts and Health interventions for health promotion and prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. The course offers both a theoretical foundation and practical skills in using mixed methods (beyond purely qualitative studies) that contribute to evidence based research on the outcomes and impact of Arts and Health programs and interventions. The course also provides students with the skills and tools to

1) identify and evaluate well-being

2) identify mechanisms of change

3) identify and address ethical issues surrounding research design and dissemination

4) prioritize authentic stakeholder engagement

Arts and Health is a growing research field, and there is mounting evidence for the role that different art forms have in improving health and well-being (Clift and Camic, 2016; Fancourt and Finn, 2019; Nitzan and Orkibi, 2020; Sonke et al., 2021; de Witte et al. 2021), whether as part of everyday life (not for health purposes but with a secondary health benefit), within arts programs designed to promote health, or as specific therapeutic interventions within educational, community, and healthcare settings. Creative arts therapies (CATs) are characterized by the clinical and evidence-informed use of the arts within a therapeutic relationship that relies on experiential and action-based interventions (De Witte et al., 2020c).  Arts and Health programs, such as community health or arts-based health research (ABHR), focus on supporting health prevention and promotion and/or addressing the social determinants of health in treatment and community settings.

This course is open to PhD students as well as health-care professionals who are interested in using mixed methods research tools to study the effects and applicability of both therapeutic and non-therapuetic Arts & Health interventions. Special focus will be given to methods for defining and evaluating Heath Related Quality of Life (HRQOL), ethical considerations in Arts & Health research, and authentic stakeholder engagement. 

Lectures will be given on the following topics:

• Conducting mixed method evaluations: tools, frameworks, research design
• Theoretical foundations of Arts & Health and Creative Arts Therapies (CAT)
• Change process research
• Ethical considerations in CATs
• Evaluating Well-being and change mechanisms
• Hedonic and eudaimonic perspectives on well-being

Learning Objectives:

The purpose is for the PhD students to develop research competencies in relation to conducting robust and ethical research studies within the domain of Arts and Health. Students will become familiar with the challenges in conducting change process research in health and well-being, and be introduced to tools and research methods to address these challenges in their research practice to assess Arts & Health interventions. Students will develop knowledge about different methodological approaches within the research environment covering humanities and health research and learn how to implement these approaches in their own research.

Teaching methods:

The course lasts 3 days and is a combination of lectures, case studies, and student presentations. Day 1 introduces students to the foundations and challenges in conducting mechanisms of change and quality of life research in Arts and Health and an overview of mixed methods for Arts & Health.
Day 2 includes presentations from invited speakers who work with mixed methods with a focus on change mechanisms and evaluating well-being and quality of life. On Day 3, students will present their own research experiences and research designs, for discussion, feedback, critical reflection, and sparring. 

Required Literature:

Creswell, John W., and Vicki L. Plano Clark. Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research. SAGE Publications.

De Witte M, Orkibi H, Zarate R, Karkou V, Sajnani N, Malhotra B, Ho RTH, Kaimal G, Baker FA, Koch SC. From Therapeutic Factors to Mechanisms of Change in the Creative Arts Therapies: A Scoping Review. Front Psychol. 2021 Jul 15;12:678397. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.678397. (pdf)

Fancourt, D., and Finn, S. (2019). What Is the Evidence on the Role of the Arts in Improving Health and Well-Being? A Scoping Review. World Health Organization. (pdf)

Huppert, F. A., & So, T. T. C. (2013). Flourishing across Europe: Application of a new conceptual framework for defining well-being. Social Indicators Research, 110, 837-861. (pdf)

Imus, Susan Jessica Young. "Aesthetic mutuality: A mechanism of change in the creative arts therapies as applied to dance/movement therapy," The Arts in Psychotherapy, Volume 83, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2023.102022. (pdf)

Clift, Stephen. “Creative Arts as a Public Health Resource: Moving from Practice-Based Research to Evidence-Based Practice.” Perspectives in Public Health, vol. 132, no. 3, 2012, pp. 120–27, https://doi.org/10.1177/1757913912442269. (pdf)

Supplementary literature:

Baker, F. A, Rickard, N, Tamplin, J, and Roddy, C. (2015). Flow and meaningfulness as mechanisms of change in self-concept and well-being following a songwriting intervention for people in the early phase of neurorehabilitation. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 9:299. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00299

Blatner, A. (1992). Theoretical principles underlying creative arts therapies. Arts Psychother. 18, 405–409. doi: 10.1016/0197-4556(91)90052-C

Clift, S., and Camic, P. M. (2016). “Introduction to the field of creative arts, wellbeing, and health: achievements and current challenges,” in Oxford Textbook of Creative Arts, Health and Wellbeing. International Perspectives on Practice, Policy, and Research, eds S. Clift and P. M. Camic (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 4–9.

Czamanski-Cohen, J., and Weihs, K. L. (2016). The bodymind model: a platform for studying the mechanisms of change induced by art therapy. Arts Psychother. 51, 63–71. doi: 10.1016/j.aip.2016.08.006

De Witte M, Orkibi H, Zarate R, Karkou V, Sajnani N, Malhotra B, Ho RTH, Kaimal G, Baker FA, Koch SC. From Therapeutic Factors to Mechanisms of Change in the Creative Arts Therapies: A Scoping Review. Front Psychol. 2021 Jul 15;12:678397. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.678397. PMID: 

Dunphy, K., Baker, F. A., Dumaresq, E., Carroll-Haskins, K., Eickholt, J., Ercole, M., et al. (2019). Creative arts interventions to address depression in older adults: a systematic review of outcomes, processes, and mechanisms. Front. Psychol. 9:2655.

Elliott, R. (2012). “Qualitative methods for studying psychotherapy change processes,” in Qualitative Research Methods in Mental Health and Psychotherapy: A Guide for Students and Practitioners, eds A. Thompson and D. Harper (New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons), 69–81.

Fancourt, D., and Finn, S. (2019). What Is the Evidence on the Role of the Arts in Improving Health and Well-Being? A Scoping Review. World Health Organization. Available online 

Flanagan, C. S. (2004). Creative arts therapy in the rehabilitation of chronic pain; movement and metaphor–reflections by clients and therapist. Nordisk Fysioterapi 8, 120–131.

Fuchs, T., and Koch, S. C. (2014). Embodied affectivity: on moving and being moved. Front. Psychol.5:508. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00508

Hahna, N. (2013). Towards an emancipatory practice: incorporating feminist pedagogy in the creative arts therapies. Arts Psychother. 40, 436–440. doi: 10.1016/j.aip.2013.05.002

Huppert, F. A., & So, T. T. C. (2013). Flourishing across Europe: Application of a new

conceptual framework for defining well-being. Social Indicators Research, 110, 837-861.

Imus, S. D. (2021). “Creating breeds creating,” in Dance and Creativity Within Dance Movement Therapy: International Perspectives, eds H. Wengrower and S. Chaiklin (New York, NY: Routledge), 124–140.

Johnson, D. R. (1998). On the therapeutic action of the creative arts therapies: the psychodynamic model. Arts Psychother. 25, 85–99. doi: 10.1016/S0197-4556(97)00099-3

Karkou, V., Aithal, S., Zubala, A., and Meekums, B. (2019). Effectiveness of dance movement therapy in the treatment of adults with depression: a systematic review with meta-analyses. Front. Psychol. 10:936. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00936

Koch, S. C. (2017). Arts and health: active factors in arts therapies and a theory framework of embodied aesthetics. Arts Psychother. 54, 85–91. doi: 10.1016/j.aip.2017.02.002

Orkibi, H. (2020). Creative Arts Therapies. The Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts - Division 10 of the American Psychological Association. 

van der Merwe, J. (2020). Change Process Research and the Common Factors Approach in Conceptualising Psychotherapeutic Change: A Systematic Review. Johannesburg: North-West University.