> Training > Events and CPD > Health Promotion in Public Health: the Role of Dramatherapy

Health Promotion in Public Health: the Role of Dramatherapy

Tuesday 1st September 2026
Timings: 18:30 - 20:00
Location: Online
Price: Full/International Members £40 | Student/Concession Members £30 | Non Members £60 (plus Humanitix fee)
Join Lorna to explore how Dramatherapy integrates with public health to prevent mental ill-health, challenge inequalities, and empower communities.
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Full Description

How do we move from treating mental ill-health to actively preventing it? And where does the creative, embodied practice of dramatherapy fit within the broader machinery of Public Health?

Join Lorna for an immersive, interactive workshop that traces the journey of Health Promotion—from historical foundations to modern, grassroots applications. Together, you will explore the how and why behind community illness, challenge systemic policy issues, and map out exactly how dramatherapy serves as a powerful tool for healing and prevention.

 

What Will Be Covered

 

  • The Foundations of Health Promotion: Lorna will connect historical frameworks—including the World Health Organisation, the Ottawa Charter, and Tannahill’s model—to modern Public Health, examining quantitative data and real-world case studies through a Health Promotion lens.

  • The Prevention Paradox: Dive into the debate between High-Risk vs. Population approaches. Through slides and facilitated discussions, Lorna will help unpack how these strategies impact mental health and discover where dramatherapy dynamically fits into the equation.

  • The Spectrum of Prevention: Explore how Primordial, Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary prevention stages interlink. You will take part in an interactive mapping activity highlighting dramatherapy’s distinct role at every single stage.

  • Confronting "Lifestyle Drift": Lorna will tackle the uncomfortable reality of policy-driven "blame and shame" at the grassroots level, analysing how it inhibits healing and how dramatherapy can actively disrupt this cycle.

  • The Evidence Hierarchy & Community Action: Working as a team, you will analyse the magnitude of mental health issues within communities. Using an interactive Tree Diagram, the group will look at root causes, identify who is most affected, and propose creative interventions designed to reach marginalized populations facing health inequalities.

Who Is This For?

 

This session is ideal for Dramatherapists, mental health practitioners, public health advocates, students, and anyone passionate about creative, systemic approaches to community well-being.

 

Discover how to use creative practice to challenge inequalities, influence health strategy, and bring healing to the communities that need it most.

Facilitator(s)

Lorna Sinclair

Having begun their career studying drama, Lorna integrated some of this background into their Public Health studies and practice. They have worked at a community and national level as a Health Promotion Specialist in the NHS, focusing on areas of health inequalities in Scotland with a qualitative research remit. Having brought up a family with dyslexia issues and started life as a child carer for a sister with profound learning support needs, Lorna brings an inclusive and equity-focused approach to all of their work.

They have worked at a community level as a qualitative researcher, focusing on partnership building with a Public Health, community-building approach. Lorna has also worked in academia at the University of Edinburgh—initially on secondment from their work in Health Promotion, and later as a 'Lead' in 'Social and Ethical Aspects to Medicine' for undergraduate Year 1 MBChB medical teaching and returning Allied Health Professional teaching. They also supported Year 2 'Organisation Health' MBChB teaching and Year 2 'Diet and Health' MBChB Year 4 teaching. Alongside this, they were the 'Lead' in the Masters of Public Health courses 'Public Health Research and Design' and 'An Introduction to Qualitative Research.'

Working through the pandemic, Lorna became acutely aware of its impact on the mental health of communities, particularly the massive impact on minority groups. Consequently, they set up and ran a Compassionate Community group in their local area and became Co-Chair of their local Health and Wellbeing Association, guiding community funding for wellbeing during lockdown. Around this time, they decided to study the 'Short Course in Dramatherapy' at Queen Margaret University and apply for the MSc Dramatherapy. Lorna is now entering Year 2 of their MSc Dramatherapy training while running their own business to support community wellbeing in their local area.