Arts and Health Research Cluster

Our Arts and Health Research Lab is an interdisciplinary research group interested in conducting research in:

We draw membership from across the University's colleges to promote a high level of debate and to promote opportunities for research partnerships to develop and flourish.

Our aims

We aim to:

Research Cluster Leads

Susan Hogan smiling, holding open a book on photography.
Professor Susan Hogan

Susan Hogan is Professor of Arts and Health. Susan has wide-ranging interests in visual culture, from the history and development of the arts and health, including the use of the arts in propagating h...

Professor David Sheffield

David Sheffield is a Professor of Psychology at the College of Health, Psychology and Social Care. He is also Head of Research and Director of Professional Psychology Programmes at the University of D...

Research Cluster Team

Members include but are not limited to:

Externals and Visiting Fellows:

  • Dr Oihikia Chacrabarti
  • Professor Stephen Clift
  • Professor Ephrat Huss

Our research

The group holds a number of grants including AHRC and British Council.

Join us

All staff are welcome. Come with an idea you'd like to develop and contact L.Boyce@derby.ac.uk

Publications

  • Andrews, D. and Hooley, T. 2022. The Careers Leader Handbook. Bath Trotman Indigo Publishing Ltd
  • Bungay, H., Chatterjee, H., Hogan, S. 2021. Arts, Creativity and Health (guest editorship of special issue and editorial). Public Health. Journal of the Royal Society of Public Health. Nov. pp. 47-48
  • Clift. S., Grebosz-Haring. K., Thun-Hohenstein. L., Schuchter-Wiegand. A. K., and Bathke. A. 2022. The need for robust critique of arts and health research: An examination of the Goldbeck and Ellerkamp (2012) RCT of music therapy for anxiety in children, and its treatment in four systematic reviews. Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy
  • Clift, S., Gilbert, R. and Vella-Burrows, T. 2017. Health and wellbeing benefits of singing for older people. In N. Sunderland, D. Bendrups, N. Lewandowski and B. Bartleet (Eds) Music, Health and Wellbeing: Exploring music for health equity and social justice. London: Palgrave
  • Cluderay, E. R., Barnes, C., Collard-Stokes, G. Hogan, S. 2025. A Systematic Review of Arts-Based Interventions for Maternal Wellbeing. Current Psychology. Springer. Feb
  • Collard-Stokes, G. and Irons, Y. 2022. Artist wellbeing: exploring the experiences of dance artists delivering community health and wellbeing initiatives. Research in Dance Education. 23 (1), pp. 60-74
  • Collard-Stokes, Gemma 2020. Recreational burlesque and the aging female body: challenging perceptions. Journal of Women and Aging. 34 (2), pp. 155-169
  • Hammoda Abu-Odah, H.,  Sheffield, D. Hogan, S. Yorke, J, Molassiotis, A. 2024. Effectiveness of Creative Arts Therapy for Adult Patients with Cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Supportive Care in Cancer. 32: 430
  • Hogan, S. 2025 The History & Development of Arts & Health in Holt, J. N. & Vougioukalou, S. (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Arts in Health (chapter one)
  • Hogan, S. 2024. Arts & Health. In: Crawford, P., Kadetz, P. (eds) Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Health Humanities. Palgrave Macmillan. pp.40-41
  • Hogan, S. & Ashley, R. 2023. Short Communication: Birth Shock! Public Health in Practice. Vol. 5
  • Hogan, S. 2022. Intersectionality and Intersectional Analysis in the Arts Therapies: How Does It Enhance Our Thinking about Social Justice? Creative Arts in Education and Therapy Eastern & Western Perspectives. 8 (1), pp. 1-10
  • Hogan, S. 2022. Photography (Arts for Health Series). Bingley: Emerald Press
  • Hogan, S. 2021. A Critical and Empowering Perinatal Arts in Health Movement. (guest editorial). International Journal of Birth and Parent Education. Vol. 8. (4) July pp. 3-4
  • Hogan, S. 2021. Arts and Health (chapter 13) in Crawford, P. & Kadetz, P. (eds.) Palgrave Encyclopaedia of Health Humanities. London: Palgrave. pp. 255-262
  • Hogan, S. 2021. Arts-based Participatory Research in the Perinatal Period: Creativity, Representation, Identity, and Methods in Lupton, D. & Leahy, A. (eds.) Creative Approaches to Health Education: New Ways of Thinking, Making, Doing and Learning. Oxon: Routledge. pp. 41-56
  • Hogan, S. 2020. (ed.) Therapeutic Arts in Pregnancy, Birth and New Parenthood. Oxon: Routledge
  • Holmwood, Clive 2022. Making a story out of a crisis – a response to Covid-19. in: Routledge International Handbook of Therapeutic Stories and Storytelling Routledge
  • Hooley. J. Can life design contribute to the fight for decent work and a sustainable future? Reflections on Interventions in Career Design and Education. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling. 49 (2)
  • Hunt, A. and Wooster, Roger 2021. Social distancing without emotional distancing? Journal of Applied Arts and Health. 12 (3), pp. 393-401
  • Irons, J. Y. and Hancox, G. 2021. Singing. Arts for Health Series. Bingley: Emerald Press
  • Irons, J. Yoon, Garip, Gulcan, Cross, Ainslea J, Sheffield, David and Bird, Jamie 2020. An integrative systematic review of creative arts interventions for older informal caregivers of people with neurological conditions. PLOS One. 15 (12), p. e0243461
  • Irons, J.Y, Sheffield, D., Ballington, F. and Stewart, D. 2020. A systematic review on the effects of group singing on persistent pain in people with long‐term health conditions. European Journal of Pain
  • Jones, Rhiannon 2021. Realising Art and Design Research in Policy Making Decisions. All-Party Parliamentary Design and Innovation Group (APDIG)
  • Kasule, S. 2022. The Post-colonial Storyteller: George Bwanika Seremba’s Come Good Rain. African Performance Review. 13 (1&2), pp. 9-20
  • Maratos, Frances, Montague, Jane, Ashra, Hajra, Welford, Mary, Wood, Wendy, Barnes, Christopher, Sheffield, David and Gilbert, Paul 2019. Evaluation of a compassionate mind training intervention with school teachers and support staff. Mindfulness. 10, p. 2245–2258
  • Poulos, C., Poulos, R., Clift, S., Opher, S. et al. (2018) Arts on prescription for community-dwelling older people with a range of health and wellness needs, Health and Social Care in the Community, 27, 2, 483-492
  • Sheffield, David and Irons, J. Yoon 2021. Songs for health education and promotion: a systematic review with recommendations. Public Health. 198 (Sep 2021), pp. 280-289
  • Skyrme, S., Hogan, S. 2022. What are the Affordances of Arts-based Workshops with Refugee Women and Girls? Creative Arts in Education and Therapy (CAET) 8. (2) pp. 173-184
  • Skyrme, S. and Hogan, S. 2021. Gender-based refugee experiences: the role of education, training and arts-based interventions for girls and women refugees. University of Derby