Research
What is reading? What does it really mean to us as human beings? Can reading really change the way we think and feel about ourselves, other people and society at large? Can it change the way we live, function and behave?
Our evaluation of Get Into Reading consistently demonstrates how the groups help a wide range of people to feel better about themselves and the world in which they live. We now need to understand why this is the case and are working closely with the Centre for Research into Reading, Information and Linguistic Systems (CRILS) at the University of Liverpool in order to further understand why our work is having such an impact.
We are working alongside a multidisciplinary research team embracing, as well as influencing, the fields of anthropology, education, health sciences, medical humanities, neuroscience, philosophy, psychoanalysis, psychology, and psychotherapy. Get Into Reading groups are able to act as a human and social as well as a health intervention. It is a pressing concern to find, or develop, research tools and methodologies which have currency with the scientific community and which do not damage or misrepresent the nature of Get Into Reading.
Our current research interests include:
- Reading for Health and Wellbeing
- Reading with Children and Young People
- Reading and Dementia
- Reading for Rehabilitation within Criminal Justice Settings
- Reading and Community
If you are interested in finding out more about our research, please contact Dr Clare Williams, Research Coordinator, clarewilliams@thereader.org.uk
current research projects
In collaboration with CRILS and other research partners, we are currently involved in the following research projects:
1. A Literature-Based Intervention for Sufferers of Chronic Pain
(2012)
This new research project, due to start early 2012, will investigate the possible effects that a reading intervention might have for sufferers of chronic pain (closely associated with depression). Two weekly Get Into Reading groups will be established for those suffering from chronic pain, one taking place at the Royal Hospital Liverpool, the other in an open community context. This study has been funded by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Mersey Care NHS Trust, and also involves a research collaboration with Faculty of Health Sciences, Royal Liverpool Hospital and The Mental Health Foundation.
2. A Literature-Based Intervention for Older People living with Dementia
(Oct 2011-March 2012)
We have a long working history of delivering Get Into Reading groups for people with dementia in care home settings as well as older people in general. This project will work as a three month mixed methods study, funded by the Headley Trust, of reading groups in a range of elderly care and dementia settings.
3. A Literature-Based Intervention for Women Prisoners: Pilot Study
(April 2011-March 2012)
This project, funded by National Personality Disorder Team, Department of Health/Ministry of Justice, will seek to capture the impact of Get Into Reading groups for female prisoners at HMP Low Newton, Durham. The project will establish weekly reading groups in these two women’s prisons where deliberate self-harm is of particular concern. Where drug intervention has proved unsuccessful, psychosocial intervention which validates personal experience and encourages positive self-belief – such as shared reading – can be especially effective.
4. Participatory Arts for Well-Being: Past and Present Practices
(Jan 2011-Dec 2012)
Funded by the AHRC through their Connected Communities Programme, this is a collaboration between University of Liverpool, Exeter and Glamorgan, in partnership with The Reader Organisation and the Young Foundation. The study will offer analytical studies of flagship community arts practices, including Get Into Reading. The project will result in a special issue of the Journal of Arts and Communities.
5. A Practice-informed Study of the Theoretical Bases for Bibliotherapy
(2009 - 2012)
This PhD is the first of its kind to seek to prove that English literature is pivotal in relation to health and wellbeing. The Arts and Humanities Research Council Collaborative Doctoral Award partners us with the University of Liverpool and Mersey Care NHS Trust, building on the University’s groundbreaking MA in Reading in Practice. The project explores the existing theoretical foundations for the practice of bibliotherapy, or ‘reading as cure’, in the English literary tradition, seeking to translate theory into practise from research in shared reading groups in Mersey Care NHS Trust settings.
6. Reading for Pleasure in Liverpool Schools
(October 2010-May 2011)
A pilot project, funded by the University of Liverpool in partnership with Liverpool Children’s Services (Liverpool City Council) and ourselves, which places UoL School of the Arts students in Liverpool schools with children struggling emotionally, socially or educationally. This is not a narrow literacy improvement programme, but an investigation (with Professor Peter Kinderman, Faculty of Life Sciences) into the value of reading for pleasure in relation to children’s well-being. It combines a student volunteer programme with a research study/partnership.
7. An investigation into the therapeutic benefits of reading in relation to depression and well-being
(2009-2011)
This 2-year project, funded by Liverpool Health Inequalities Research Institute , a collaboration of University of Liverpool and Liverpool Primary Care Trust, studied the benefits to depression sufferers of Get into Reading groups established in a GP surgery and a health drop-in centre in Liverpool. The project developed an innovative multidisciplinary approach to mental health research, integrating arts and science methodologies. The expertise of a clinician (Professor Chris Dowrick, specialising in depression), a social anthropologist and health scientist (Dr Jude Robinson, Senior Lecturer, School of Health Sciences,), a linguist (Dr Andrew Hamer, School of English) and a literary specialist (Dr Josie Billington, Deputy Director, CRILS) are combined in the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data relating to reading groups in primary care settings, studying the nature of the intervention (group dynamics, facilitator’s role, which literature works and why).
research publications
1. An investigation into the therapeutic benefits of reading in relation to depression
Josie Billington, Chris Dowrick, Andrew Hamer, Jude Robinson, and Clare Williams, 2011
This latest report examines the findings of a year long research study which investigated the therapeutic benefits of shared reading, using the Get Into Reading model, in relation to depression and well-being. The study found that Get Into Reading helped patients suffering from depression in terms of their social well-being, mental well-being, and emotional and psychological well-being. It also established what types of literature work, why they work and how they work in the specific context of depressive illness.
2. Reading and Talking: Exploring the Experience of Taking Part in Reading Groups at Vauxhall Health Care Centre
Jude Robinson, 2008
Based on a research study of a Get Into Reading group taking place in a GP surgery, this report explores what happens when people get together in a shared reading group and how participation relates to aspects of physical and emotional health and wellbeing.
3. Reading and Talking: Exploring the Experience of Taking Part in Reading Groups in Walton Neuro-Rehabilitation Unit
Jude Robinson, 2008
Based on a research study of a Get Into Reading group taking place at Walton Neuro-Rehabilitation Unit, explores what happens when people get together in a Get Into Reading group and how participation relates to aspects of physical and emotional health and wellbeing.
4. Reading between the lines: the experiences of taking part in a community reading project
Suzanne Hodge, Jude Robinson, Philip Davis, 2007 (in Medical Humanities, British Medical Journal (Med. Humanit. 2007; 33; pp. 100-104)
Reports the findings of an early research pilot study of six Get Into Reading groups to explore people’s experiences. Findings consider the social, therapeutic, and literary function of the group and how the shared reading intervention differs from other bibliotherapy initiatives as an alternative approach to the treatment of depression.
Professor Philip Davis is the Director of the Centre for Research into Reading, Information and Linguistic Systems, University of Liverpool and Editor of The Reader magazine.