Impact of using creative arts programming to support HIV treatment in adolescents and young adults in Eswatini

Background In 2018, approximately 1.6 million adolescents (aged 10–19) were living with HIV worldwide, with the highest HIV prevalence found in Eswatini. Adolescents and young adults living with HIV are a vulnerable population due to unique psychosocial challenges that come with having a stigmatizing disease. This group struggles more than other age-groups with medication adherence and requires novel approaches to supporting treatment, including peer-group encouragement, and self-expression. Methods We piloted a theater camp for a group of adolescents and young adults enrolled at our HIV clinic in Mbabane, Eswatini, to determine the impact of having an outlet for creative expression and peer support on treatment and feelings of stigma. Pre- and post-camp surveys were administered to the participants to assess perceived stigma and impact of the camp. The results were analyzed using a Wilcoxon-signed rank test. Results Twenty individuals (ages 12–23) living with HIV participated in the camp concurrently with standard treatment. 25% showed a substantial decrease in viral load within six months of completing the camp (> 0.1 log10 change) while only 10% showed a substantial increase. Those who completed the survey felt the camp helped them with confidence, teamwork, and friendships. A comparison of pre- and post- surveys showed an overall decrease in personalized stigma. Quotes from participants reinforced these results. Conclusions Adolescents and young adults living with HIV are an important population for further program development. Our study showed creative arts programming has beneficial psychosocial effects, aids in community building, and potentially enhances the effectiveness of medical treatment. Further programs and studies should continue to investigate creative arts as an avenue for self-expression and community building among vulnerable populations.

The Limits of Rehabilitation and Recidivism Reduction: Rethinking the Evaluation of Arts Programming in Prisons

Canadian prison-based arts and other programming are limited at best. Even the country’s Correctional Investigator, or prison-ombudsperson, has critiqued the lack of meaningful options in which prisoners can engage. Those programs that do exist tend to be focused on the logic of penal rehabilitation, with the end goal of reducing recidivism. In this article, we showcase the evaluation of a 9-week arts program in a women’s prison, the aim of which was to build community and foster artistic engagement, thus running counter to normative carceral logics.

FINDINGS FROM THE ALZHEIMER’S POETRY PROJECT LONG-TERM CARE IMPLEMENTATION STUDY

Dementia interventions grounded in group participation in the cultural arts (e.g., poetry, storytelling, music, and dance) have been growing in reach in recent decades. Yet this growth has been stymied by a lack of empirical evidence to demonstrate measurable outcomes. In the current IRB-approved research study, the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project (APP), in partnership with 15 Wisconsin nursing homes, provided staff training in an innovative non-pharmacological intervention for people living with dementia. The goal of APP is to facilitate creative self-expression, social and intellectual stimulation, respectful acceptance, validation of personhood, and valued inclusion of people living with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias through the performance and creation of poetry. APP’s proven track record at over 500 facilities in 34 states and six countries internationally, serving over 40,000 people worldwide, demonstrates APP’s ability to bring high-quality creative arts programming to people living with dementia. Through the implementation of APP in three groups of five nursing homes in Wisconsin, activities and care staff were trained to deliver the intervention over three-month periods. After training was completed, researchers evaluated and compared APP to non-arts programming in the same facilities. A novel dementia arts mapping technique was created to document observable impacts of interventions on social engagement, alertness, vocalization, vocabulary, affect, and self-expression. 35 interventions were documented, and variability in participant experiences reveal significantly greater impacts on personhood and creativity during the 11 APP interventions than during the 24 non-arts interventions. Implications for promoting dementia care programming grounded in group participatory arts will be discussed.

BBC arts programming: a service for citizens or a product for consumers?

The British Broadcasting Corporation occupies what is often considered to be a unique position within UK culture as both a respected national institution that is a pillar of enlightenment values and, increasingly, an agile, entrepreneurial business that has to deliver ‘value-for-money’. This study will contribute to the existing body of literature examining the impact of a neoliberal marketisation discourse on BBC policy by focusing specifically on the provision of arts programming as a key indicator of how the logic of the marketplace has permeated the BBC’s commissioning culture. In doing so, it argues that the loss of the topical arts magazine and discussion formats from BBC television, in contrast to radio, is symptomatic of the ways in which arts broadcasting has been reimagined both in the corporation’s internal production culture and in its public pronouncements as a product for consumers rather than a service for citizens.

Ways of Interpreting Queer Pasts

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) historical interpretation is an increasingly common feature of museums and historic sites, while at the same time one that often pushes beyond the physical boundaries of historical organizations. This article considers various interpretive methods as tools for delivering LGBTQ history and offers multiple examples of each type of interpretation. Methods discussed include exhibits (both temporary and permanent); special events; arts programming; youth programming; monuments and memorials; historical engagement with the built environment; and digital history projects. The author acknowledges that, in 2019, these efforts still tend to favor the experiences of white cisgender men and to focus on the realm of political activism and offers some suggestions for how LGBTQ interpretation might develop in coming years.