Live Projects.
Who cares about healthcare workers? Exploring wellbeing at work through creative workshops.
Research questions: What mental health and wellbeing challenges do Kenyan healthcare professionals and health educators face at work, and what practical interventions would make them feel better supported?
Research and facilitation team: Dr Zoë Goodman (anthropologist and facilitator based at King’s College London), in collaboration with Nelson Githuku (independent facilitator and theatre practitioner) and Kenyan NGO Sponsored Arts for Education (S.A.F.E.), particularly facilitators David Kalume and Jesca Ehachi.
Aims: The purpose of the project is to explore the wellbeing and mental health issues that healthcare professionals and health educators face at work. The research will be conducted amongst staff and students at North Coast Medical Training College (NCMTC) in Kilifi, Kenya. The research will be conducted through a series of arts-based workshops that use creative methodologies (including theatre, puppetry and creative writing) to explore how those in the health sector navigate challenging situations and emotions at work – such as stress and overwhelm, managing difficult patients or colleagues, or being asked to perform tasks without adequate training. The research will explore what healthcare professionals and health educators already do to support their own and others’ wellbeing, as well as what would help support them better. The data gathered through the workshops will be used to create a toolkit for healthcare professionals as well as recommendations for healthcare institutions.
This project is funded by the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council and King’s College London.
This is Phase 2 of Zoë’s AHRC Catalyst Award, ‘Theatre-making in careless times: Arts-based approaches to care along the Kenyan coast’. The project uses creative methods to create a sustained platform for dialogue and action in the health for all.
