Developing a network for mutual learning on the potential of creative arts for mental health advocacy and activism in Ghana and Indonesia

该项目将建立一个由加纳、印度尼西亚和英国的研究人员、艺术家和有精神疾病生活经历的人组成的网络，以探索创意艺术的潜力，支持倡导和行动主义。精神疾病可能非常致残，患有精神疾病的人可能在教育、工作和住房等领域受到歧视、羞辱和排斥。他们还可能遭受人权侵犯，如被铁链锁住。包括诗歌、音乐和戏剧在内的创造性艺术可以成功地使人们参与社会问题，如人权和心理健康，以及争取变革。然而，在低收入国家，艺术在心理健康宣传中的应用并不多，我们不知道哪种方法和途径在不同的环境中最有效。重要的是，精神疾病患者应参与影响他们的决定，并能够以有意义的方式参与研究和宣传。我们将首先与加纳和印度尼西亚的精神健康患者举行三次会议，以便有时间和空间建立信任，并进行公开讨论，了解他们的问题、优先事项和需求。这将包括讨论困难的问题和听取不同的观点。我们将特别注意确保那些处境不利的人，如有严重心理健康问题的人或有阅读或写作困难的人，得到支持参与。在这些会议之后，我们将与该小组和每个国家的艺术家再举行两次会议。在这些会议中，艺术家们将了解他们国家精神疾病患者的经历，并探索如何利用创意艺术进行宣传。他们将讨论使用的首选语言和图像，以及如何保护人们的安全，保护他们的心理健康和保密性。在第二次会议中，他们将尝试不同的创意艺术，看看哪种艺术最能支持安全开放的对话并加深理解。最后，我们将在印度尼西亚举办为期两天的研讨会，让来自三国的心理健康倡导者、艺术家和研究人员面对面交流。我们将邀请在印度尼西亚参加会议的有精神疾病生活经历的人以及利益攸关方，如护理人员，卫生工作者，社区团体和政策制定者参加研讨会。在这些讨论中，我们将分享我们在每个国家的小组讨论中所学到的东西，并确定在每个国家纳入精神疾病患者并促进其权利的机会和障碍。在研讨会期间，我们将利用创意艺术帮助不同权力和社会地位的人们相互倾听，提出问题并做出决定。在访问印度尼西亚期间，我们将启动网络和我们的网站。我们的目标是将更多来自不同国家的人纳入网络，并共同开展利用艺术促进心理健康宣传的活动。我们将撰写论文，举办网络研讨会和研讨会，并在每个国家的社交媒体和广播电视上宣传该网络。我们将根据我们所学到的东西编写指导方针，这些指导方针可以被有生活经验的人及其家人，艺术家，研究人员和活动家使用，他们希望利用艺术来宣传精神疾病患者的权利。

This project will create a network of researchers, artists and people with lived experience of mental illness in Ghana, Indonesia and the UK to explore the potential of creative arts to support advocacy and activism. Mental illness can be very disabling and people living with mental illness can experience discrimination, stigma and exclusion in areas such as education, work and housing. They can also be subjected to human rights abuses such as chaining. Creative arts including poetry, music, and drama, can be successful in engaging people in social issues, such as human rights and mental health, and campaigning for change. However there has not been much use of the arts in mental health advocacy in low-income countries and we don't know which methods and approaches will work best in different settings. It is important that people living with mental illness are included in decisions that affect them and enabled to participate in a meaningful way in research and advocacy. We will start with three meetings with people living with mental health conditions in Ghana and Indonesia to give time and space to develop trust and enable an open discussion to find out what are their problems, priorities and needs. This will include talking about difficult issues and listening to different points of view. We will take special care to make sure that people who are more disadvantaged, such as people with severe mental health conditions or who have difficulties reading or writing, are supported to participate. After these meetings we will hold two more meetings with the group and with artists in each country. In these meetings artists will learn about the experiences of people living with mental illness in their country and explore how creative arts could be used for advocacy. They will discuss the preferred language and images to be used and ways to keep people safe and protect their mental health and confidentiality. In the second meeting they will experiment with different creative arts to see which work best to support safe open conversations and deepen understanding.Finally we will hold a two-day workshop for mental health advocates, artists and researchers from the three countries to meet face-to-face in Indonesia. We will invite the group of people with lived experience of mental illness who took part in the meetings in Indonesia as well as stakeholders, such as caregivers, health workers, community groups and policy makers to the workshop. In these discussions we will share what we have learned during the group discussions in each country and identify the opportunities and barriers to including people with mental illness and promoting their rights in each country. During the workshop we will use creative arts to help people listen to each other across different levels of power and social status, ask questions and reach decisions.During the visit to Indonesia we will launch the network and our website. Our aim is to include more people from different countries in the network and to develop activities using the arts for mental health advocacy together. We will write papers, hold webinars and seminars and advertise the network on social media and radio and television in each country. We will write guidelines based on what we have learned which can be used by people with lived experience and their families, artists, researchers, and activists who want to use arts in advocacy to promote the rights of people living with mental illness.