I remember one day walking down Leicester’s Queens Road during the Mental Health Awareness Week earlier in May (10th to 16th). Almost every shop had big green ribbons hanging in their windows. These ribbons (or green ribbon pins) are the international symbol for the Mental Health Awareness campaign. They support and encourage us to create a space for people to talk about mental health.
When talking about mental health, it often comes hand in hand with well-being, and both have received increasingly popular awareness and importance as a societal issue. According to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) definition of mental health, it is the foundation for the effective functioning and well-being of individuals affecting one’s ability in learning, thinking and understanding one’s emotions and other’s reactions. In other words, it can affect one’s mental well-being, health and daily life. With the several lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health and well-being have become one of the most significant public health measures, with a rise in the report of people suffering from severe mental health difficulties.
Apart from official governmental or non-governmental organisations’ well-being support, museums and art galleries play an important role in health and well-being. As published in one of the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries (RCMG)’s publications in 2014, Dodd and Jones pointed out that museums can benefit the health and well-being of individuals and communities by providing opportunities for learning, programming and contributing to help participants to build up resilience. For example, the Science Museum of Minnesota raised awareness of mental health issues by creating an interactive exhibition in 2018 featuring personal stories from people with mental health issues. Apart from that, the museum also hosts different workshops and discussions to foster understanding and facilitate conversation on mental health discourse. Moreover, some museums or galleries adopt art therapy to tackle mental health issues. Art is a creative way to help people explore and express their feelings. Giving the participants the freedom and flexibility to express themselves is an effective way of helping to change their mood positively. Different museums adopt many other ways and approaches to addressing the topic of mental health. Museum Next and Museum Association have provided different case studies on how museums worldwide join the mental health conversation and what they do to enhance health and well-being.
Apart from looking into how the museum sector serves on improving individuals or the community’s mental health and well-being, it is also essential to look within the industry, especially people and professionals who work inside museums. Talking to one of our alumni, Samantha Jenkins, one of the co-founders of Museum Wellness (Twitter: @Museum_Wellness), she points out that Museum Wellness aims to create a platform for museum professionals to connect over mental health and well-being as this is often neglected in the workplace. Therefore, she and a few other museum professionals decided to create a safe place where people who work in the sector can share their feelings, encouraging and supporting each other by providing mutual support and encouragement. It is such an excellent idea for museum professionals to support each other mentally, showing that you are never alone facing mental health issues! Moreover, due to the pandemic, it is reported that different museum workers have experienced salary cuts or job losses while undergoing a huge amount of stress due to an extra-heavy workload. This platform is undoubtedly a helpful way to share and support one another!
Written by Odelia Cheung
Extra Sources:
Museum Next’s article on Museums Joining the Mental Health Conversation: https://www.museumnext.com/article/museums-joining-the-mental-health-conversation/
Museum Association’s page on cases studies of Enhancing health and wellbeing: https://www.museumsassociation.org/campaigns/museums-change-lives/enhancing-health-and-wellbeing/
Museum Wellness’s Twitter account: https://twitter.com/Museum_Wellness