Professor Persephone S. Sextou
Professor | Leeds Beckett
Leeds, UNITED KINGDOM
Persephone Sextou is a leading expert in applied theatre for health and wellbeing.
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Biography
Professor Persephone Sextou is a leading expert in Applied Theatre for Health and Wellbeing. Her co-design, arts-based and cross-disciplinary research model in paediatrics and palliative care informs policy and practice of health and education services in the UK and Australia.
Persephone's research model of Applied Theatre Performance in Paediatrics focuses on perioperative anxiety and the improvement of children and young people's lives during hospitalisation.
Persephone is a Visiting Professor at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney and is currently a Co-Investigator of the 'Future Stories' research team using VR technology in Palliative Care led by UNSW Sydney (ARC Grant $300,00). Partner with the tech industry in developing simulation engineering (VR, AR) technology in arts-based research for hospitalised populations.
Persephone is the author of five monographs and 40+ articles in peer-reviewed journals. Her book Theatre for Children in Hospital. The Gift of Compassion was published by Intellect (UK) in 2016 and is listed in recommended bibliographies of academic programmes around the world. Her new book Applied Theatre in Paediatrics. Children, Stories and Synergies of Emotions is published with Routledge (January 2023). Her latest book informs Higher Education Drama training provision as well as practice in Palliative care in Children's Hospitals in Australia.
Persephone's practice-as-research projects are funded by The Lottery Community Fund, NHS Arts, BBC Children in Need, Philanthropy, and City Council Arts Development grants.
Industry Expertise (3)
Education/Learning
Research
Mental Health Care
Areas of Expertise (9)
Wellbeing
Performing Arts
NHS
Community
Digital Arts
Children
Mental Health
Pain
Virtual Reality
Education (3)
Goldsmiths, University of London: Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, PhD 2004
Lancaster University: MA, Theatre Studies 1992
University of Ioannina: BA (Hons), Early Childhood Education and Teaching 1991
Links (5)
Languages (1)
- English
Articles (5)
Can arts-based interventions reduce children’s peri-operative anxiety in paediatrics? A discussion of representative studies
Applied Theatre Research2023 This narrative literature review aims to provide a broad scope and objective analysis by identifying and summarizing published works surrounding the current research into how different forms of non-pharmaceutical and non-invasive arts-based methods can be used to reduce children’s peri-operative anxiety in paediatrics. While our search focuses on the peri-operative anxiety context, we build on wider research on the role of the arts in paediatrics and include representative studies from the last five to seven years.
Future stories: co-designing virtual reality (VR) experiences with young people with a serious illness in hospital
Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance2022 Hospitalisation can be a challenging experience for young people, including higher levels of anxiety, social isolation, and depression. In this paper we identify the possibilities of an applied theatre pilot that aimed to combine co-designed virtual reality (VR) approaches with intermedial work with young people in hospital. Within the pilot study we worked with three participants in individualised bedside workshops over a four-week period. Analysis from the pilot demonstrated the significance of the co-design process leading to greater degrees of agency for young people, and opportunities for the participants to share experiences with medical staff, carers, and siblings.
What does the actor need to perform in health care? Emotional demands, skills and competencies
Applied Theatre Research2018 This article aims to explore the required skills and competencies of the actor who works in health-care systems. A narrative inquiry gave the opportunity for participants to elaborate on their understandings of their direct or indirect engagement with theatre in hospitals. Data were collected in the form of ten narrative interviews with experienced actors in hospitals and drama trainees. Inductive thematic analysis of this collection of qualitative data was used to allow findings to emerge from frequent or significant themes inherent in the semi-structured interviews. The study demonstrates a defensible emphasis on key themes, including the predictable professional skills such as acting in participatory dramas, using theatre improvisation and puppetry, and interpersonal skills such as emotional intelligence and empathetic awareness.
Health Through Arts: Connecting People & Communities, A Sidney De Haan Research Centre Webinar Series, Kent, UK, January–June 2022
Journal of Applied Arts & Health2022 Between January and June 2022, scholars and practitioners from the United Kingdom, Europe, United States and Australia joined the Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts & Health (SDHRC) at Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU), Kent, United Kingdom, for four research webinars, centred around the theme Health through Arts: Connecting People and Communities. The webinar series explored ground-breaking research about the impact of participatory art-based applications for individuals in healthcare and well-being contexts, including bedside theatre for children in hospital, choral singing for people with learning disabilities, puppetry and disability in healthcare, and virtual reality (VR) experiences with young people with serious conditions in hospital.
Theatre in paediatrics: can participatory performance mitigate educational, emotional and social consequences of missing out school during hospitalisation?
Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance2022 This paper relays the findings of the evaluation of an applied theatre project for children in hospital as perceived by hospital teachers. A mixed qualitative approach was used. Data were analysed using thematic analysis to explore the teachers’ views on children’s engagement with learning and the improvement of the hospital experience as a whole through applied theatre. The article presents examples of children’s stories that illustrate the findings. The study concludes that applied theatre in paediatrics can engage children with hospital tuition and learning during treatment; improve the management of emotions; help them relax and communicate with the outside world.
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