Using an arts-based design to explore the experience of Shared Reading: A pilot study

Abstract

This pilot study explores the use of an arts-based design to record the experience of a Shared Reading workshop. There is considerable evidence of the effectiveness of Shared Reading as a support for well-being across a wide range of situations and settings, and studies have suggested that this literature-based intervention may have the potential to support both thinking and feeling. However, describing the personal and emotional responses that provoke the impact of Shared Reading is a challenge. The capture of the discussion occurring during this pilot workshop is made visual using both words and pictures, and this ‘capture’ is then synthesized and an evocation is created using the medium of film. This article discusses the process and the effectiveness of this arts-based approach as evidenced during data collection, in interpretation and again in dissemination, and implications for further use of this methodology are explored.