Developing a measure of social inclusion

In this presentation Jenny Secker will describe the development of a measure of social inclusion. The team which won the bid to carry out a study for the Department of Health & the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to develop the evidence base for arts participation as a means of  promoting social inclusion found that there was no appropriate measure of social inclusion to use in the study. So they developed their own measure, starting by attempting to unravel the complexities of social exclusion/inclusion, identifying and piloting possible questions and carrying out a field test as part of their study.  The team was put together and led by Jenny Secker and included members who have artistic talents and also experience of using mental health services. The measure is becoming widely used but it is far from perfect, so the presentation will also look at its limitations, in the context of whether any measure could capture all the dimensions of social inclusion.

Related publications:

Secker J., Hacking S., Kent L., Shenton J., Spandler H. (2009) Development of a measure of social inclusion for arts and mental health project participants. Journal of Mental Health 18: 1: 65-72.

Hacking, S., Secker, J., Spandler, H., Kent, L., Shenton, J. (2008) Evaluating the impact of participatory arts projects for people with mental health needs. Health and Social Care in the Community 16:6: 638-648.

Secker J., Hacking S., Spandler H., Kent M. & Shenton J. (2007) Mental Health, social inclusion and arts: developing the evidence base.