Creative arts and healing among veterans: impacts of community-based photography workshops on veterans' well-being and quality of life.

IF 1.5 4区医学 Q3 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Arts & Health Pub Date : 2025-11-09 DOI:10.1080/17533015.2025.2584237

Bonnie M Vest, Samantha D Peterman, Brendan Bannon, Vasiliki P Neofotistos

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: The Odyssey Project is a unique non-clinical participatory photography program for veterans. We evaluated the Odyssey Project's impact on participants' mental health, social connection, well-being, and quality of life and gathered insights into how the arts support veterans.

Methods: Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 25 Odyssey participants. Transcripts underwent rapid qualitative analysis, producing matrixed summaries and identifying themes across these summaries.

Results: Veterans reported improved mental health, social relationships, belonging, perspectives on military service, sense of self, and self-acceptance. Veterans felt art was useful for processing and reconnecting with their emotions. Some participants offered suggestions for program improvement.

Conclusion: Odyssey participants experienced positive impacts that had ripple effects through their lives and valued using the arts to tell their stories. The Odyssey Project sits in a "sweet spot" between clinical art therapy and other less immersive veterans' community arts programs, making it appealing to veterans struggling with reintegration.

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退伍军人的创作艺术和治疗：社区摄影工作坊对退伍军人福祉和生活质量的影响。

背景：奥德赛项目是一个独特的退伍军人非临床参与性摄影项目。我们评估了奥德赛项目对参与者心理健康、社会联系、幸福感和生活质量的影响，并收集了艺术如何支持退伍军人的见解。方法：对25名奥德赛参与者进行半结构化定性访谈。对成绩单进行快速定性分析，生成矩阵摘要，并在这些摘要中确定主题。结果：退伍军人在心理健康、社会关系、归属感、兵役观、自我意识和自我接纳方面均有改善。退伍军人认为，艺术有助于处理和重新连接他们的情感。一些与会者提出了改进方案的建议。结论：奥德赛的参与者经历了积极的影响，在他们的生活中产生了连锁反应，他们重视用艺术来讲述他们的故事。奥德赛项目位于临床艺术疗法和其他不那么沉浸式的退伍军人社区艺术项目之间的“最佳位置”，这使得它对正在重新融入社会的退伍军人很有吸引力。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Arts & Health PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH-

CiteScore

4.80

自引率

14.30%

发文量