Digital community assets: Investigating the impact of online engagement with arts and peer support groups on mental health during COVID-19
Article
Tucker, I., Easton, K. and Prestwood, R 2023. Digital community assets: Investigating the impact of online engagement with arts and peer support groups on mental health during COVID-19. Sociology of Health & Illness. 45 (3), pp. 666-683. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.13620
Authors | Tucker, I., Easton, K. and Prestwood, R |
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Abstract | The digitisation of mental health support has acceler- ated since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study investigated the impact of digital engagement with community assets on mental health during COVID- 19. Digital engagement is typically not location-bound, but the restricted movement enforced during ‘lock- downs’ meant that people were primarily accessing digital community assets from their home environ- ments. We report findings from a study utilising two creative workshops and semi-structured interviews to investigate how support operates in and through three digital community assets; an online peer support forum, a social enterprise running regular creative challenges nationally via social media and a local in-person crea- tive arts support group. The concept of ‘more or less digital’ captures the ways that people’s experiences of digital community assets extend beyond the platforms to incorporate settings of use. The analysis identifies how support is diluted through digital engagement, the value of minimal and muted forms of engagement and user-led designs for future hybrid forms of support. The article concludes by emphasising the importance of analysing digital community asset engagement in the settings of use and how such knowledge is vital for plan- ning support in a future under continual pressure to be increasingly digital. |
Keywords | art therapy; community assets; COVID-19; digital health; online mental health; peer support |
Journal | Sociology of Health & Illness |
Journal citation | 45 (3), pp. 666-683 |
ISSN | 0141-9889 |
Year | 2023 |
Publisher | Wiley |
Publisher's version | License File Access Level Anyone |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.13620 |
Publication dates | |
Online | 15 Feb 2023 |
Mar 2023 | |
Publication process dates | |
Accepted | 20 Dec 2022 |
Deposited | 17 Feb 2023 |
Funder | UKRI |
Copyright holder | © 2023, The Authors |
https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/8vq2q
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Publisher's version
Sociology Health Illness - 2023 - Tucker - Digital community assets.pdf | ||
License: CC BY 4.0 | ||
File access level: Anyone |
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