Archaeology, Heritage, and Wellbeing: Supporting therapeutic activity through the AMPHORA Guidelines

Activity: Invited talk or paper presentationOral presentation

Description

Archaeology, Heritage, and Wellbeing: Supporting therapeutic activity through the AMPHORA Guidelines

Introduction and Objective: Heritage projects to support wellbeing are widespread. Some explicitly seek to target and improve mental health, thereby acting as mental health interventions. However, mental health interventions provide conditions for change, and change involves risk. This means that, while there are benefits to participation, there are also risks for those taking part. Uniquely for heritage, there are also risks for the non-renewable heritage assets at the heart of interventions.

Methodology: Through stakeholder engagement, comprising a panel of experts through lived experience, policy, practice, and research, we developed best practice guidelines to support the delivery of safe interventions. Two phases were completed. A Sandpit with World Café discussions was held to understand priorities, followed by an anonymous 3-stage Delphi Consultation with 44 panel members to develop the guidelines. Delphi consultations involve the collation and consensus of expert opinion to establish guidelines or processes where evidence is scant.

Findings and Conclusions: The AMPHORA guidelines, the first research-led guidelines, cover three stages (Project Development, Project Delivery, and Project Follow up) and emphasise the importance of authentic participation and expert involvement for safe and meaningful participation. AMPHORA can assist all organisations in the delivery of safe projects to support mental health and wellbeing, and to enhance and protect the historic environment. This research was funded by the UKRI MARCH Network.
Period21 Sept 2023
Event title11th International Health Humanities Conference - History and Practice of Human Care
Event typeConference
LocationDerby, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInternational