Creative Methods in Community Rehabilitation among Youth

Abstract

This bachelor’s thesis is a functional thesis dealing with how to use creativity based methods in community rehabilitation among youth in Espoo. According to the Finnish national mental health organization, at least one in five Finns experiences mental health disorders during the year, and one in five falls ill with depression during their lifetime. The costs of mental health disorders in Finland is estimated to be 11 billion euros. According to various studies, around 20–25 young people suffer from some kind of mental health disorder, being the most common health problem of schoolchildren and young adults. Research has shown that prevention and good treatment of disorders is important both from the point of view of public health and the national economy.

The use of arts and the importance of art have been studied, for example, as part of care and nursing work in hospitals and primary health care, as well as part of preventive services and rehabilitation. In clinical environments, art and artistic activities have been found, e.g. to improve treatment results, reduce physical and psychological symptoms as well as the need for and use of sedatives, painkillers and sleeping pills. Artistic activity can enable the important experience of belonging and being accepted in a group, community or society more broadly. Participatory and communal art activities can increase social interaction, support and trust and offer participants experiences of being seen, heard and valued. Participating in community art activities can help reduce loneliness and social isolation. An art project can provide a safe space, time and opportunity to share experiences, views and feelings together with others. In addition, it can provide a respectful and encouraging atmosphere for joint activities, increasing participation and client’s agency. Similar results were confirmed throughout this functional thesis. Youth between 20-29 years of age stated that creative activities are very therapeutic and they were surprised to find out how enjoyable they found the activities for enhancing group dynamics. Creativity based methods can be offered as one form of treatment to improve one’s wellbeing. This thesis addresses the benefits of cultural wellbeing to health and uses community rehabilitation as an example of how this has been organized with the community members in the contexts of recovery.

Keywords: Community based rehabilitation, Therapeutic community, community facilitator, Bachelor of Social Services, creative based methods, empowerment, participation, dialogue.