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Calabria, V 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8823-8192,
2025.
Participatory oral history for social change: collaborative approaches to mental health research.
In: 23rd International Oral History Association Conference “Rethinking Oral History”, Kraków, Poland, 16-19 September 2025.
Abstract
People with psychiatric disabilities remain under-served throughout the long history of mental healthcare in the Western world, albeit in different ways. While research into psychiatry’s past may still be a very long way from becoming fully equitable, the inadequacies of treatment and care in mental health in the UK and elsewhere remain a constant. This paper aims to explore how a participatory oral history project that embraced the arts enabled people with long-term psychiatric disabilities to improve their capabilities while also learning new skills. The co-produced outputs, including an exhibition and a film documentary, have helped to bring about positive behaviour change, not only by improving the wellbeing of participants with lived experience of mental illness but also by changing perceptions of mental health in the wider public. Findings show that through participatory oral history research, people with psychiatric disabilities took ownership of the research by actively shaping the content and nature of the outputs that led to significant impact, including challenging dominant public perceptions of mental health services and reducing stigma towards people with long-term mental health needs that rely on the services. The project has helped to shed light on the uneven and often slow developments and transformations in mental health treatment, ultimately contributing to reshaping contemporary understandings of mental health and care. The research indicates that participatory approaches to doing oral history work with people with psychiatric disabilities can increase capabilities, promote critical dialogue and change public behaviour. The paper argues for consciously rethinking the theory and practice of oral history beyond the interview encounter by embracing a participatory action research approach to oral history to improve practices and social outcomes and reduce inequalities in health and social care.
| Item Type: | Conference contribution |
|---|---|
| Creators: | Calabria, V. |
| Date: | October 2025 |
| Identifiers: | Number Type 2522098 Other |
| Divisions: | Schools > School of Social Sciences |
| Record created by: | Jeremy Silvester |
| Date Added: | 05 Nov 2025 12:13 |
| Last Modified: | 05 Nov 2025 12:14 |
| Related URLs: | |
| URI: | https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/54683 |
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