Public engagement project

Mentally Healthy Tayside archives project

This pilot project built on the work that we have done using our hospital and asylum records to contribute to nursing, social work and medical classes.

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Status

Completed

Start date

January 2019

Completion date

January 2021

This pilot project built on the work that we have done using our hospital and asylum records to contribute to nursing, social work and medical classes. Working with Jacqueline Eccles from Health Sciences and with the support of the Dundee Health Minds network, we introduced a group of mental health service users to our local history archives and in particular to those relating to the asylums in Tayside. This led to conversations about the treatment of people with mental illness and learning disabilities in the past and how this can inform approaches today. Over a number of sessions we explored how today’s service users can describe and record their experiences for people to access in future. The project was Highly Commended in the 2020 Stephen Fry Awards for Public Engagement and we are part of a National Heritage Lottery funded nationwide project which will lead to further work in this area in 2022 and 2023.

Related groups

Archives