Heritage Doncaster

Boosting self-esteem with Body Image Through Time

NHS England data shows a dramatic rise in the number of young people accessing treatment for eating disorders through young people’s mental health services in Doncaster.

In 2023 Heritage Doncaster and Doncaster Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) co-designed a creative programme for young people (aged 12-16) accessing disordered eating services. The programme is unique and is pioneering an alternative route to supporting young people’s self-esteem in Doncaster.

Creative Health: Body Image Through Time is part of Heritage Doncaster’s History, Health and Happiness programme. It aimed to boost self-esteem, build confidence, and facilitate group and peer therapeutic discussion by exploring ideas of beauty and body image in the museum’s collection – for example Roman beauty tools, Victorian corsetry and 1970s hippie fashion. CAMHS nurses supported the activity therapeutically, and it took place in a GP surgery.

The programme culminated in working with an artist to express views on bodies through deconstructing and reconstructing clothing.

All young people who attended Body Image Through Time self-reported increased confidence and shared they had built connections with other participants, a key indicator of growth in wellbeing.

Participants noted that using the museum collection to reflect on body image was helpful for their mental health: “Seeing how quickly fashion changed helped me realise society expects too much.”

The young people shared that having intergenerational conversations about bodies, facilitated by the collection objects, was important: “I really enjoyed talking to different women about bodies.”

Wellbeing evaluation showed all participants had improved EDE-Q (eating disorder) scores. The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire is designed to assess the range, frequency and severity of behaviours associated with a diagnosis of an eating disorder. For all the young people, worries about their body shape reduced following completion of the creative group. PSYCHLOPS mental health scores also improved, with participants revealing they thought less about calories (from 4/5 to 1/5) and struggled less when eating in front of people.

The project has laid the foundations for exploring new and different ways that museum collections and stories can be used to boost self-esteem in young people.

Body Image Through Time was shortlisted for Best Museums Change Lives Project at the Museums Change Lives Awards 2023.