In this presentation to the Arts Health Network Queensland, I outline some arts-based research in healthcare (aged care - photography and research poetry) and some projects in HEAL - the Healthcare Excellence Accelerator Lab, a partnership with Clinical Excellence Queensland/

1. Arts
& Design-Led
Innovation
in Healthcare
- and the HEAL
(Healthcare Excellence
Accelerator Lab)
Initiative
Professor Evonne Miller
Professor of Design Psychology
& Director QUT Design Lab
@evonnephd

2. Queensland University of Technology (QUT) acknowledges the Turrbal and Yugara, as
the First Nations owners of the lands where QUT now stands. We pay respect to their
Elders, lores, customs and creation spirits. We recognise that these lands have always
been places of teaching, research and learning. QUT acknowledges the important role
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people play within the QUT community.

3. ABR – Arts-Based Research
“ABR is a transdisciplinary approach to
knowledge building that combines the tenets
of the creative arts in research contexts….
methodological tools used by researchers
across the disciplines during any or all phases
of research, including problem generation,
data or content generation, analysis,
interpretation, and representation”
p. 4, Patricia Leavy - Handbook of Arts-Based Research (2017)

4. 1. Photovoice – joining of
photography with voice
2. Research poetry – form
of found poetry,
creating poems (or
poem-like prose) from
interview transcripts
3. Art – drawing, painting
& cartoons (researcher &
participants)
Three Arts-Based Research Approaches

5. powerful combination of photovoice & research poetry
WHY PARTICIPATORY CREATIVE ARTS-BASED RESEARCH METHODS?
THEIR POWER, IMPACT, COMMUNATIVE & PARTICIPATORY PROCESSES

6. In her 2007 book Agamemnon’s Kiss, Australian anthropologist Inga
Clendinnen describes how she works to ‘seduce an intelligent, non-specialist
audience... into thinking about the issues that I cared most about’ (p.36). ).
Arts-Based Research should be
“emotional, evocative, provocative,
illuminating , educational, and
transformative”
(Leavy, 2017, p. 213).

7. PROJECT 1. Inside Aged Care 2012-17
Australian Research Council Linkage
Project (LP130100036) & Ballycara
Chief Investigators: Prof Evonne Miller,
Prof Laurie Buys & Nicole Devlin.
Research Fellow: Geraldine Donoghue
Photographer/PhD Student: Tricia King
insideagedcareproject.wordpress.com
Thank you to all the older people, aged care residents,
their families, and caregivers who participated,
giving up their precious time to help.

8. 232,000

9. limited knowledge about experience
of daily life in aged care
Inside Aged Care. Credit: Tricia King
After shocking revelations in the media about
abuse, malnourishment and neglect of vulnerable older people
living in aged care, in 2019, the PM launched a Royal Commission
into Aged Care Quality and Safety. Interim Report Neglect states:
“As a nation, Australia has drifted into an ageist mindset that
undervalues older ​people and limits their possibilities…
apparent indifference towards aged care services. Left out
of sight and out of ​mind, these important services (aged care)
are floundering. They are fragmented, unsupported and
underfunded. With some admirable exceptions, they are
poorly ​managed. All too often, they are unsafe and seemingly
uncaring. This must change“

10. insideagedcareproject.wordpress.com

11. PROJECT 2. Our Care Journey - 2018
Industry Partner: The Ageing Revolution
Chief Investigators: Prof Evonne Miller, Dr
Oksana Zelenko, Geraldine Donoghue &
Aleksandra Staneva
Artist: Stephanie Bonson
Cartoonist: Simon Kneebone
Photographer: Tricia King
https://ourcarejourney.wordpress.com/
Thank you to all the families &
caregivers who participated, giving
up their precious time to help.
quicker, smaller cost, but impactful

12. • Participatory Co-Design Process – Co-design an APP
• Photovoice and In-Depth Interviews
• Documentary Photography
• Research Poetry
• Cartoonist
• Drawing - in response to transcripts
• Interactive Digital Exhibition (for Carers Week 2018)
CO-DESIGNING CARE –
DESIGN & ARTS-BASED METHODS
www.ourcarejourney.wordpress.com

14. 1: Photovoice

15. Research process generally
includes three main stages:
– Firstly, ask participants to
take photographs of
things, places, processes
or people that relate to
topic under investigation;
– Secondly, ask participants
to talk about and share
why they took each
photograph;
– Thirdly, hold a public
exhibition to communicate
the findings
What is Photovoice? JOINING OF PHOTOGRAPHY WITH VOICE
Recommended Book:
Amanda Latz (2017). Photovoice
research in education and
beyond: A practical guide from
theory to exhibition

16. PROJECT 1 – PILOT PROJECT 2012-2013
My Life: Frangipanis, Friendship & Football
PILOT -
ITERATION 1:
Communal
Camera, staff-
facilitated,
photographs
that represent
daily life
over a year
Miller, E., Buys, L, & Donoghue G. (2019). Photovoice in aged care: What do residents value?
Australasian Journal of Ageing, 38(3), 93-97.
ten participants:
two males and
eight females,
66 to 92 years
(average 80 years)
FRANGIPANI’S,
FRIENDSHIP & FOOTBALL

17. My Life - Frangipanis, Friendship and Football
THE MISSING / ABSENT
IMAGES
Few negative images - this is
how they wished to portray
their life in aged care to
others. Photovoice images
reflect “identity construction
and how they want
themselves and their lives to
be seen by the researcher
and represented in the
images” (Pilcher et al., 2016,
p.685).
Miller, E., Buys, L, & Donoghue G.
(2019). Photovoice in aged care:
What do residents value?
Australasian Journal of Ageing,
38(3), 93-97.
Exhibition on-Site & GOMA

18. PROJECT 2 – INSIDE AGED CARE 2013-2017
Australian Research Council Linkage Project
Research Questions
1. What is life like in aged care?
2. How can we improve it, using an active ageing /happiness lens?

19. intimate and everyday moments inside aged care: personal grooming (hair), personal activity (knitting etc),
social activity (dining room) and moments between activities…waiting
• Sole use of camera for two
weeks, to record more about
their daily life – highlights and
lowlights
• Day in the Life Task: Take
photograph every hour from
waking until going to bed, of
whatever doing..
• Professional Photographer –
arranged as a Thank You, many
of these in exhibition
Photovoice Tasks & Documentary Photographer

20. A Collaborative Process
Choosing the Exhibition Images

21. Patrick’s Favourite Day

22. Matilda’s Angel

23. Mum’s Clock - Valued Personal Possessions & Memories

24. BALLOONS FOR CAROL

25. Exhibitions Take Time, Organization & Energy
The Exhibition

26. THE EXHIBITION OPENING – FEB 2017, STATE LIBRARY OF QUEENSLAND

27. ETHICS & REPEATED, LAYERED CONSENT

28. 2. Research Poetry (Form of FOUND POETRY)
transcript poems
found poetry
poetic inquiry
poetic transcription
data poetry or data poems
poetic narrative
narrative poetry
interview poems
poetic texts
performance poem
poetic reflection/resistance
poetic analysis
ethnopoetry
Prendergast, M. (2009). "Poem is what?" Poetic inquiry in qualitative social science research. International Review of Qualitative Research, 1(4), 541-568.

29. In contrast to the
blank page, found
poetry is poetry
selected and
created out of texts
that already exist in
the world – texts
that you ‘find’.
The ‘text’ can be
anything – a TV
show, an online
article, a page from
a novel, another
poem, conversations
you overhear or
interview
transcripts.
WHAT IS FOUND POETRY?

30. What is Reearch Poetry?
novel creative analysis where poems (or
poem-like prose)
are constructed from research data
a novel creative analysis where poems
(or poem-like prose) are constructed from research data
What is Research Poetry
*Miller, E. (2019). Creating research poetry: A nursing home example. In Áine Humble and Elise Radina (Eds.),
Going behind ‘themes emerged’: Real stories of how qualitative data analysis happens. USA: Palgrave Macmillan.
1.Non-linear deep dive into interview transcripts searching for key
words, phrases, & sentences (analogous to qual. data reduction)
2. Participants’ words arranged and rearranged to craft a poem
A Note on Quality - different standards for research poems (artistic & scientific merit)

31. 1.Immersion
2.Creation
3.Critical Reflection
4.Ethics
5.Engagement
*Miller, E. (2019). Creating research poetry: A nursing home example. In Áine Humble and Elise Radina (Eds.),
Going behind ‘themes emerged’: Real stories of how qualitative data analysis happens. USA: Palgrave Macmillan.
My ICCEE* approach to Creating Research Poetry
“although at first the path may seem challenging, full of slips
and icy terrain, it becomes a more obtainable undertaking
with the help of a guide (and a little grit)” Miller, 2019

32. Research Poetry Surprises & Engages
Poem creation is a search for the most
engaging, telling, and provocative phrases that
enable the reader to viscerally see, hear, taste,
smell, and/or feel the experience. I cut and
past the phrases that spoke to and emotionally
engaged me—any words that made me smile,
frown, feel empathy, sadness, or anger
Miller, E. , Donoghue, G & Holland-Batt, S. (2015). “You could scream the place down”:
Five poems on the experience of aged care. Qualitative Inquiry.

33. POEM Excerpt from interview transcript
You’re taken care of – Ethel,
aged 80
You’re taken care of.
I’m very satisfied
with my room.
I got me own furniture,
so why wouldn’t I be?
It’s just like my own home,
only I don’t do no work.
I got me friends here,
I go to bingo,
I join in exercises,
I go for any walks,
I have a good family,
they take me places.
though I haven’t been able
to find a nice man yet.
So we’re just talking about your experience living here. You said, that you love it,
so tell me more about why.
If anything happened to me I’d be in the right place.
Right. Ok, so it’s a sort of safety?
Yes, safer here in your own mind. Yeah, safety in your own home. So that no
matter what happens--you’re taken care of.
Yeah, yeah, well that’s what I believe.
That’s good. So now we’re going to talk about different things, ok? So the first
thing we want to talk about is actually your room.
I’m very satisfied with my room, I got me own furniture so why wouldn’t I be?
(laughs)
Is there anything you’d change about the design to make it better?
Not in my opinion. So nothing? Ok...
It’s just like my own home, really - only I don’t have to do no work! (laughs)
Now thinking about how you spend your time here, is there enough for you to
do?
Yeah, yeah, I go to bingo, and I join in exercises, and I go for any walks......
are you able to do things you like to do?
Yes. (quietly). Though I haven’t been able to find a nice man yet (laughs)...
So your social life, is that pretty good? With people? Yes, I got me friends here
Yeah it’s good, I’ve got a good family and they take me to places. You know, we
can go and have a meal together, you know, things like that. And I go to, if
they’ve got a party on for somebody’s birthday, I’m always invited.

34. my family said
I was too old
too old, to be on my own
that I needed organising
but, you lose everything
you lose everything
to come in here
as you can see
you only have
the barest minimum
there's not much here
it is not nice,
not nice at all
it is not good for me
I can't get out.
That's what you lose, when you come in
all your independence
is taken away from you.
I'm not able to do it myself,
that's very hard to take
you get so frustrated
at times, you could
scream the place down
‘Scream the place down’
Joyce, 87
Miller, E., Donoghue, G., & Holland-Batt, S. (2015). “You could scream the place down”:
Five poems on the experience of aged care. Qualitative Inquiry, 21(5), 410-417
JOYCE – 87

35. Marcy Meyers. (2017). Concrete Research Poetry: A Visual Representation of Metaphor. Art/Research
International: A Transdisciplinary Journal, 2(1).
CONCRETE POETRY
AS WELL AS text to read, concrete poems give
reader a visual object to be perceived
Stigma Casserole

36. When your time is up
everybody comes
and goes
so quickly
since I have been here
so many
people
have
passed
away
they
have
gone
their way now
it makes you
wonder
how much longer
you have got
it's a daily thought
you don't know
when
your time
is up

37. IN PRESS ROUTLEDGE BOOK
Creative Arts-Based
Research in Aged Care:
Photovoice, Photography & Poetry in Action
Professor Evonne Miller @evonnephd

38. 3: Drawing & Craft

39. Industry Partner:
The Ageing Revolution
Chief Investigators:
Prof Evonne Miller,
Dr Oksana Zelenko,
Geraldine Donoghue
& Aleksandra Staneva
Artist: Stephanie Bonson
Cartoonist: Simon Kneebone
Photographer: Tricia King
https://ourcarejourney.wordpress.com/
ARTS-BASED RESEARCH IN “OUR CARE JOURNEY”

40. RESEARCHERS & PARTICIPANTS – OPENING NIGHT
ARTS-BASED RESEARCH IN “OUR CARE JOURNEY”

42. THE EMOTIONAL PAIN OF CAREGIVING

46. CRAFT: The Loom & Tapestry Weaving in Aged Care
Demecs, I., & Miller, E. (2019). Woven Narratives: A craft encounter
with tapestry weaving in a residential aged care facility. Art/Research
International: A Transdisciplinary Journal, 4(1), 257-286

47. Redesigning Healthcare
4. Design

48. HEAL is a partnership
between healthcare
teams and the design
community
QUT TEAM: Evonne Miller, Marianella Chamorro-Koc, Lindy
Burton, Janice Rieger, Jen Seevinck, Lisa Scharoun, Rafael
Gomez, Natalie Wright, Manuela Taboada, Judy Mathews
PROJECT MANAGER: Gillian Risdale
DESIGN RESEARCHERS: Jessica Cheers, Isabel Byram, Leighann
Wilson, Kirtsen Baade, Jane Carthey

49. SPATIAL DESIGN
• Architecture - design & engineer buildings and
structures.
• Interior Architecture – optimise the interior
spaces where we live, work and play
• Landscape Architecture - create outdoor spaces
with positive cultural & environmental impact
EXPERIENTIAL DESIGN
• Industrial Design - develop & prepare products
for manufacture
• Fashion Design - develop clothing, accessories,
footwear
• Visual Communication – simplifying the complex,
conveying ideas & information visually
• Interaction Design – shaping interactions with
technology, devices, apps & websites, in context
https://talkingaboutdesign.com/the-paradox-of-the-petri-dish-aka-culturing-a-culture/

50. Oct 2019: Celebrating QUT Design as
Top-Ranked Design School in Australia
in “Design Practice & Management” (ERA 1203)

51. HEAL’s aim is to work
collaboratively with you,
using design to
intentionally experiment &
change systems, tackling
wicked problems
in healthcare
qut.design

52. “Bringing you care,
anywhere”
• VOICeD Virtual Outpatient Integration for Chronic Disease
• VOICeD Diabetes–Renal–Cardiac multi-specialist clinic
• State-Wide Diabetes Network, trialled in Cairns
• QUT –Led: Evonne Miller & Jessica Cheers
AIM OF VOICeD: To reduce the number of specialist visits and associated travel for patients with
chronic disease by providing an integrated multi-healthcare provider telehealth appointment.

53. Placemaking & Wayfinding
QCH - 6th Floor Entertainment Precinct
Dr Jen Seenvick &
Prof Evonne Miller

54. National & Sunshine Coast - Emergency Room Re-Design
Dr Lindy Burton &
Prof Evonne Miller

55. Child-Friendly PPE
State-Wide Network / USC
A/Prof Marianella Chamorro-Koc
& Dr Rafael Gomez

56. Engaging Students - A/Prof Marianella Chamorro-Koc
Design of an interactive CPR Manikin (child size) to teach children the technique. The aim was
local, cost effective and viable manufacturing, while attending to children’s active learning
through haptic technology - with Clinical Skills Development Services RBWH

57. Design Thinking – Dream Big Week at QCH
Pain-Free Procedural Journey for “Annabelle & Tiffany”

58. Arts
& Design-Led
Innovation
in Healthcare
- and the HEAL
(Healthcare Excellence
Accelerator Lab)
Initiative
Professor Evonne Miller
Professor of Design Psychology
& Director QUT Design Lab
@evonnephd