Using Arts-Based Methods in Disability Research

• Published in: Forum, qualitative social research Vol. 26; no. 2; pp. 1 - 22
• Main Authors: Dew, Angela, Smith, Louisa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin Freie Universität Berlin 26.05.2025
• Subjects: Arts; Case studies; Dementia; Disability; Ethical dilemmas; Health education; Intellectual disabilities; Learning disabled people; Mapping; People with disabilities; Photography; Poetry; Research methodology; Research subjects; Social sciences; Supporters
• ISSN: 1438-5627
• DOI: 10.17169/fqs-26.2.4354

The use of arts-based methods has been increasingly reported in social sciences, education, health and more recently, disability research. Arts-based research methods offer the potential for researchers and research participants to communicate what cannot be captured in words. In this paper we present a range of arts-based methods used in our research with people with disabilities and their supporters. We explore the background of arts-based methods for disability research and then present five case studies of arts-based methods we have used across our research: Found poetry, body mapping, community mapping, 3D artefacts and photovoice. In unpacking these different examples, we highlight the ways in which arts-based methods help to capture the embodied, emotional and overlapping experiences of people with disability or their supporters. Engaging with the arts-based method empowered participants with diverse experiences of disability-from intellectual disability to dementia-to make choices and determine the ways in which they engaged with the research subject and the topic. Despite some logistical, analytical and ethical challenges, arts-based methods offer disability research powerful tools for accessible engagement and knowledge translation.