Using theatre and performance for promoting health and wellbeing amongst the 50+ community: an arts-informed evaluation

There is increasing interest in the use of arts-based media to improve the health and wellbeing of the older population. Whilst there have been a number of initiatives in this area, there have been relatively few arts-informed evaluations of such interventions. This paper worked with a local theatre to design an evaluation that was an arts-based intervention. What is novel about the approach adopted here is that not only was the study user-guided, but the study also adopted a new and emerging form of arts-informed inquiry, which offered clarity to the evaluation that is not seen in some of the earlier methods available. The findings of the study indicate that theatre and performance provided opportunities for diverse marginalised members of a community to connect and participate in a shared activity and transform their views of themselves and others in ways that were beneficial for health and wellbeing.