The arts have been linked to wellbeing for thousands of years. The Ancient Greeks and Chinese linked health to creativity and the arts and for hundreds of years, artists have been involved in exploring health and creating work in and for healthcare environments.
“Little as we know about the way in which we are affected by form, by colour, and light, we do know this: that they have an actual physical effect. Variety of form and brilliancy of colour in the objects presented to patients, are actual means of recovery.” Florence Nightingale 1860
In recent years, health providers and policy makers have come to acknowledge the role the arts can play in improving health. In 2007, the Department of Health’s Review of Arts and Health Working Group, examined the role the arts can play in health. It concluded that “arts and health are, and should be firmly recognised as being, integral to health, healthcare provision and healthcare environments, including supporting staff”.
And, in recent years, the arts have increasingly found a place in the NHS – more hospitals have arts programmes, more patients are being offered opportunities to explore their creativity as a route to wellbeing.
At the same time, the contemporary NHS is driven by evidence. For the arts to continue to move to a more central position in the provision of health, the evidence for the efficacy of the arts must continue to be developed. Individual arts and health practitioners and organisations can contribute to this. Small scale evaluations, if conducted properly can contribute to the weight of evidence around arts and health and can help to develop a stronger and more robust evidence base for the field as a whole.
If you have completed research into the role of creativity in health which you would be willing to share on this site, please contact us at cultureandwellbeing@lahf.org.uk
Practical Advice and Guidelines - Search toolkits, advice and how to guides
Research - Search current research, evaluation, press coverage and discussion in the field of arts and health
