A Culture Dose for Kids session delivers positive impacts on youth mental health and has been shown to significantly reduce anxiety in children aged nine to 12, finds the latest research conducted by Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) and the Black Dog Institute.
The free program has been designed to help children experiencing anxiety (without a clinical diagnosis), and delivered to more than 540 parents and children at AGNSW and across 14 galleries in regional NSW, including Lismore Regional Gallery, Murray Art Museum in Albury and Blue Mountains Cultural Centre.
The program is hosted in small group settings to create a safe and structured space for children and parents/caregivers to engage with select artworks, with a different theme each week. It features an hour of slow-looking at three artworks guided by experts, followed by an hour of art creation based on what has been viewed.
Over the eight-week Culture Dose for Kids pilot program in 2022, children experienced a 29% decrease in overall anxiety and depression scores as measured by parent evaluation, and a 15% decrease in these scores as self-reported by the young people. In 2023-24, the program expanded to children impacted by natural disasters.
Mental health issues affect around one in seven young Australians before the age of 14. Participation in the Culture Dose for Kids program has proven to engage both parent and child, and contribute to improved overall wellbeing of the family, as well as offer new strategies in dealing with mental health.
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“With increasing social and environmental pressures, many worsened by climate disasters, it has never been more urgent to think outside the box when it comes to mental healthcare,” says Professor Katherine Boydell, Chief Investigator for Culture Dose for Kids and Director, Arts-based Knowledge Translation Lab at Black Dog Institute.
”Programs like Culture Dose for Kids provide creative, innovative solutions, but more funding is essential to expand their reach and impact. As we approach another hot summer and the end of a busy year, it’s important to remember that art can nourish and revive us,” Boydell continues.
AGNSW Senior Access Programs Producer, Danielle Gullotta, says, “Our Culture Dose for Kids program allows participants to observe, describe, imagine and interpret a work of art in a positive and safe environment. By regularly engaging in art-marking experiences and open-ended interpretation of artworks, individuals can process ideas and concepts that can be difficult to express in words. The report findings offer us concrete evidence that continuous engagement with art can support youth wellbeing and mental health and tells us that programs like Culture Dose for Kids are essential.”
AGNSW also hosts an adult strand of Culture Dose.
Find out more on the research project here. Check out upcoming Culture Dose for Kids sessions.
