The Jay-Canvas Artboard Approach: an innovative arts-based research method

Area of Science:

• Mental Health Research
• Qualitative Research Methods
• Arts-Based Research

Background:

• Growing need for innovative data collection empowering vulnerable populations, particularly mental health service users.
• Traditional methods may not fully capture the nuanced experiences of these individuals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and describe the Jay-Canvas Artboard Approach (Jay-CAA), a novel arts-based research methodology.
• To demonstrate Jay-CAA's utility in collective data generation and participant expression.

Main Methods:

• Participants collaboratively wrote descriptive comments using colored pens on shared canvas artboards.
• The collected data was subsequently analyzed using thematic analysis.

Main Results:

• The Jay-Canvas Artboard Approach facilitated efficient data creation and collection.
• The method proved unproblematic for participant recruitment and retention in studies.

Conclusions:

• The Jay-CAA is an effective arts-based method for enabling research participants to summarize and express their experiences.
• This approach offers a time-effective and engaging way to collect rich qualitative data from vulnerable groups.