Effects of co-designing expressive textile arts and fashion on ex-mentally ill persons, people with intellectual disabilities and undergraduate students​

Abstract

This research investigated the effect of Expressive Textile Arts and Fashion (ETAF) on ex-mentally ill (ex-MI) persons, people with intellectual disabilities (ID) and undergraduate students—the first initiative aimed at evaluating the changes in participants’ psychosocial functioning and subjective well-being induced by co-design participation, using pre–post questionnaire surveys. This interdisciplinary collaboration was funded by two government schemes (HK$2.3M) from the Social Welfare Department (SWD), co-organised by the New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association and the Hong Chi Association under the Integrated Community Centre for Mental Wellness (ICCMW) in Hong Kong. A series of co-design ETAF workshops under the Service-Learning (SL) programme were offered at the Wellness Centre of the NGOs and the university. The ETAF programme framework integrated the theory of the expressive therapies continuum. A co-design model was developed to facilitate evidence-based evaluation. Through the co-design process, ETAF creativity was adopted as a caring medium to improve participants’ interpersonal functioning and psychological well-being. The research method and multimodal intervention are unique; they investigate a question with potential significance for individual and public health in a field that has been largely neglected. This research developed a novel co-design framework that improves the psychosocial well-being of participants and enhances the future development of alternative treatment practices and psychiatric rehabilitation services. In this research with the two NGOs, we established track records in securing government funding from the SWD (2019, 2020) to achieve a positive impact on mental health and public policy. The positive findings were delivered globally through a refereed journal publication (2020), a static exhibition cum fashion show (2019), a media interview in China Daily (2019), an international workshop in Cambodia (2019), a public seminar at the Hong Kong Volunteer Symposium (2021) and a virtual exhibition at the International Symposium and Expo on Service-Learning and Socially Responsible Global Citizenship (2021).