Arts-based research across the lifespan and its contribution to resilience and well-being

Abstract

In this chapter we present a summary of seven positive influences on resilience and well-being that are identified within the research presented in the preceding chapters. We theorise that arts-based research methods: provide agency through the foregrounding of participants’ voices; afford transformational learning opportunities; create opportunities for relationship building; support creativity and new ways of thinking; generate aspirations and hope; encourage forms of communication that expose ideas, emotions and feelings that previously might not have been known or known how to be expressed; and enhance reflection and reflexivity. To conclude, each editor provides a reflection on the contribution the arts or arts-based research have had on their personal learning and experiences at various stages of their own lives.