Museums as Public Health Assets

Recording

Speaker

Debbie Brittain, Project Officer
Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) Learning team

Abstract

Museum wellbeing programs are becoming recognised for their ability to support non-clinical health needs of the public. The World Health Organization Aging and Health Program argues in favour of proactive and positive approaches to chronic disease management and promotes museum programs as key partners in practice development. This presentation explores how museum wellbeing programs such as QAGOMA’s Art and Dementia program offer opportunities to fill the gap for life-long learners, through meaningful and stimulating engagement, and positive social interaction.

Bio

Debbie is interested in life-long learning and regularly sees first-hand how the Arts enrich psychosocial wellbeing. Debbie developed QAGOMA’s award-winning Art and Dementia Program more than ten years ago. After completing a Bachelor of Dementia Care at the University of Tasmania, Debbie became especially interested in non-pharmacological intervention approaches that support people with dementia to live well.  The QAGOMA program centres around contemporary dementia care practice and opportunities for cognitive and social engagement in a therapeutic art gallery setting.  
In October 2022, QAGOMA’s Art and Dementia program was awarded the large workplace award at the Queensland Mental Health Week Achievement Awards, acknowledging the program’s focus to improve quality of life of care partners, as well as people diagnosed with dementia.   

Debbie has presented at the Museum. Next global summit ‘Museums, Health, and Wellbeing’, the Lithuanian Museums Association forum ‘Museums and Public Health’ and at the Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine Scientific Meeting on the topic of ‘Ageing – The Arts, Health, and Wellbeing’.  

In 2023-24 she is a Stakeholder Reference Group member for the co-designed UQ research project 'Core Outcome Measures for Improving Care' (COM-IC), aimed to improve quality of routine dementia care in Australia.  

Debbie was recently awarded a Churchill Fellowship which will see her travel to North America and Europe later this year. Her project will investigate best practice museum programming for people with dementia and explore museum programs that are referred to patients through social prescribing, or ‘museums on prescription’ healthcare approaches.