Guidance for project providers.
Project summary
Taking part in heritage projects, like archaeology, has become a really popular way to improve mental health and wellbeing and they really can help people. But there can be times when projects might not have the right set up to make sure that the participants and the historic remains are well looked after. By bringing together a panel of 44 stakeholders – including people with experience of living with mental health issues and also those with expertise in mental health and heritage – in a Delphi Consultation, we were able to build a set of best practice guidelines to help make sure that people are safe and looked after when they take part, and that we look after the things and places that mean something to us.
The guidelines are called AMPHORA - Authentic and Meaningful Participation in Heritage or Related Activities – and they focus on projects that offer active participation to help improve the mental health of individuals who live with complex mental health challenges.
Project summary
Taking part in heritage projects, like archaeology, has become a really popular way to improve mental health and wellbeing and they really can help people. But there can be times when projects might not have the right set up to make sure that the participants and the historic remains are well looked after. By bringing together a panel of 44 stakeholders – including people with experience of living with mental health issues and also those with expertise in mental health and heritage – in a Delphi Consultation, we were able to build a set of best practice guidelines to help make sure that people are safe and looked after when they take part, and that we look after the things and places that mean something to us.
The guidelines are called AMPHORA - Authentic and Meaningful Participation in Heritage or Related Activities – and they focus on projects that offer active participation to help improve the mental health of individuals who live with complex mental health challenges.
There are three sets of guidelines or ‘toolkits’, which have been written for project providers, social prescribers, and potential participants. The toolkit for project providers helps them to better understand and address their responsibilities. The toolkit for social prescribers and link workers helps them to gauge the quality of support that should be offered to individuals they might be considering referring to heritage-based therapeutic services. The toolkit for potential participants helps empower them to ask questions about a project and the types of support they can expect. We have also produced a checklist for project providers to support their decision making.
It is hoped that these guidelines can assist all organisations, big or small, funded or unfunded, in the delivery of safe projects that support the mental health of those involved, as well as enhancing and protecting the historic environment that provides the setting for these interventions.
This research was supported by the UKRI-funded MARCH Network. Production of the toolkits was funded by a HEIF award from the University of Winchester.
View the project partners and funders
Discover more about the project
Watch the recent talk about Amphora, given by Dr Karen Burnell and Dr Paul Everill, as part of Solent's professorial and public lecture series.
The toolkits
The toolkits present the guidelines in an accessible form, alongside explanatory comments offered by the panel throughout the process. The checklist presents the guidelines in the form of precise statements that achieved panel consensus and should be used to support the planning and delivery of an AMPHORA project.
Download the toolkit
Guidance for social prescribers.
Guidance for potential participants.
Checklist for project providers.
Share your views on the guidelines
To help us understand how these guidelines are being used, and to learn from their application in a range of different settings, it’s really important for us to have your feedback. This is a voluntary but really helpful element of the ongoing evaluation of these guidelines. Learn more about the survey by clicking on the image below.
Take our surveyAMPHORA network
The AMPHORA network is an online space bringing together a range of professionals and experts, including those with lived experience. This space is to share ideas, make contacts and, together as a community, drive forward understanding of this developing area. To join the network or find out more, click the link below.
Join the networkRead the technical reports
To read more about the research process and detailed findings, please download the Technical Report.
Take a look at the previous Delphi questionnaires that helped form the basis of the guidelines:
Delphi questionnaire - Round 1
