Impact case study database

(1292/750 words)

Policy

King’s research into the history of fatherhood (outputs 1, 2, 3) influenced government policy and the work of professionals implementing social policy:

• In 2018 it was used by the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee and cited in a report on ‘Fathers in the Workplace’ (source C), which noted it showed ‘the ideal of a man working full-time to support his family is powerful and long embedded’ and ‘government policy therefore has to overcome rigid social norms about gender roles’.

• It improved awareness and confidence of social work, childcare and health workers. In 2014, King delivered a training session for Warwickshire County Council on the history of fatherhood and ways to engage fathers. Of 27 attendees from these sectors, 25 completed a questionnaire (source A), with many now planning to change their practice by ‘looking at what is cultural pressure rather than best for child’, ‘to ensure the father is involved in the process’, and ‘try and engage more fathers’. On a scale of 1 to 5, the training increased delegates’ scores from 2.9 to 4 on confidence in engaging with fathers and 3.1 to 4.2 on awareness of good practice.

• In 2015, King co-created a resource pack with West Yorkshire Probation Service (WYPS), which challenged the idea that men in the past were ‘distant’, and normalised men’s role involvement with children. Of eight probation workers surveyed (source B), all agreed or strongly agreed this resource would ‘help to engage and motivate men on supervision in their role as fathers’. This research has enhanced WYPS’s research capacity and helped utilise men’s identities as fathers to change probationers’ behaviour.

King’s research into death and dying (grants 1, 2) has contributed to Leeds City Council and NHS public health policy:

• Since 2015 King has been a founding member of the Leeds Dying Matters Partnership, part of the national Dying Matters campaign. King used her research in an exhibition, artistic work (below) and public engagement events to deliver the Partnership aims to encourage planning for dying and death (source I). This approach encouraged discussion where it might be difficult (in a Council survey, 48% of people (n=815) believed that ‘people around me are uncomfortable talking about death and dying’, but 78% (n=819) want to talk about these subjects).

• NHS Leeds South and East Clinical Commissioning Group also used King’s research to improve public communications on bereavement, including on Better Lives blog ( https://betterlivesleeds.wordpress.com/).

• King gave a talk at the AGM for Leeds Bereavement Forum (2016) and co-curated their annual professionals’ conference, as well as running a workshop (2017). This encouraged professionals (from hospices, bereavement and counselling services, NHS) to consider using historical research in their practice. 26 of 27 questionnaire respondents agreed ‘exploring the past is a useful way of opening up conversations around death and dying’. Qualitative evaluation demonstrates the conference allowed professionals to reflect on historical roots of their work: comments included that King’s workshop ‘Really made me reflect’; ‘Enjoyed this. Can relate to practice’ (source J).

Museums

King’s research has influenced professional practice in museums:

• Research into the history of childbirth (outputs 2, 3) and digital methodologies (grant 3, output 4) led to work with Thackray Medical Museum, Leeds, and community group, Bahar AFG (migrant women from Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Egypt). Workshops involved recording stories, images and objects related to childbirth, later published on Yarn (http://yarncommunity.com/projects/2\), adding to the Thackray’s collections on childbirth and allowing them to feature a greater range of experiences. Through evaluation it was noted that:

• The women were more likely to visit the Thackray and other museums, and felt more confident in discussing women’s health. All scored between 8 and 10 out of 10 (on a scale of ‘not at all’ to ‘very much’) when asked if they ‘had been able to share information which matters to them’ and all scored 9 or 10 out of 10 when asked if the project had make them think differently about using digital tools.

• The group leader noted an increase in confidence among the group and a decrease in embarrassment, stating ‘I noticed they started opening up and sharing some stories and experiences so it was kind of a barrier being broken down and an increase in confidence’ (source D).

• The curator noted the subject of childbirth allowed collaboration with community groups and people from diverse cultures/backgrounds, previously difficult. She reported that King’s research, on childbirth and using digital tools, was a ‘massive advantage’, ‘without that understanding we’d have struggled to present that to audiences’, and ‘the impact of the project on the museum’s development has been huge’. This has allowed them to redevelop their digital strategy, and contributed to their successful applications for museums accreditation and funding from Arts Council England, Heritage Lottery Fund and Wellcome Trust. She suggests the project is a model for good practice (source E).

• King’s research on death, remembrance and family archiving (grants 1 and 2, outputs 5 and 6) instigated an exhibition at Abbey House Museum, Leeds, on ‘Remembrance’ (March 2018-Feb 2019), co-curated by King, PDRA Jessica Hammett and the curator at Abbey House. The exhibition allowed museum visitors to reflect on remembrance and demonstrated diverse practices of remembrance across different social groups. This allowed visitors to reflect on their own practices and opened up discussion of death.

• 31,602 visitors engaged with this exhibition and the museum has commented on unprecedented engagement with its interactive activities: 363 people (including international visitors) added postcards to the exhibition in response to the question ‘How do you remember?’ (source F, G).

• Exhibition events reached a further 103 people, and public engagement beyond the museum, such as four market stalls across Leeds in 2017-18, reached c.200 people. At Kirkgate market a visitor noted 'I didn't think I had anything meaningful until you were just speaking then. But I do have something [to remember a relative with]'.

• The curator notes they never would have tackled this subject without King’s research. It allowed them to rethink the museum’s role in instigating difficult conversations and it changed their approach to displaying materials and incorporating interactive sensory experiences (source G).

• The exhibition was the subject of King’s appearances on BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live and Dublin City FM (both April 2018), and featured in the Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post.

Artists

King’s research on remembrance (grants 1, 2) has deeply influenced two artistic projects:

• The Grief Series, Part 6, is a caravan full of stories and reflections on using places to remember. The caravan invites participation by adding to a map and an audio archive, using the historical approach inherent in King’s research to drive audience interaction with the art.

• The lead artist notes (source H) that King’s research has ‘made me ask questions about authorship when charting the histories of more marginalised communities’, and ‘working from historical source material has allowed me space free to play with ideas before inviting the participation from the public. This both allows me to more rigorously interrogate ideas and therefore [I have] been able to look after participants better.’ She adds: ‘working with Laura has changed the way I approach researching projects.’

• The caravan has been on tour internationally reaching c.2850 people to date (2018-19), including participants in related workshops. The caravan has facilitated reflection on how people remember and want to be remembered and also helped them talk about death, something which remains difficult for many (source H).

• Artists from Mexican organisation Faro de Oriente participated in a two-week residency in Leeds, in part funded by King’s research (grant 6). The Faro artists noted it allowed them to ‘reflect on the utility of a tradition’, showing increased historical ways of thinking and appetite for research and engagement with academics not present previously.