How can country, spirituality, music and arts contribute to Indigenous mental health and wellbeing?

Pauline Guerin, Bernard Guerin, Deirdre Tedmanson, Yvonne Clark

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective: Mental health and social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) have been linked as outcomes of attachment to country, spirituality, and engagement in music and arts, particularly for Indigenous Australians. It is not clear how this occurs, even though the links seem substantial. Method: We explore how mental health and SEWB may be linked to attachment to country, spirituality, and engagement in music and arts by reviewing literature and presenting examples from our research with Indigenous communities. Rather than abstracting, our goal is to describe specific examples encompassing the rich contextual details needed to understand the factors contributing to mental health and SEWB. Results: While engagement in music is often seen as benefiting mental health because thoughts and feelings can be expressed in less public ways, it can also lead to employment and access to economic and social resources. Attachment to country also shows a plethora of positive outcomes which can contribute to mental health and SEWB even when not explicitly aimed at doing so, such as reducing conflictual situations. Conclusions: We conclude that more detailed, contextual research is required to fully explore the links between creative enterprises and mental health and SEWB outcomes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)S38-S41
JournalAustralasian Psychiatry
Volume19
Issue numberSUPPL. 1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished or Issued - Jul 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Arts
  • Attachment to country
  • Indigenous Australians
  • Mental health
  • Social and emotional wellbeing

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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