Arts improve health

“What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being?,” by Daisy Fancourt and Saoirse Finn alongside the World Health Organization and Health Evidence Network, maps evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being. The report nalyzes over 900 publications in English and Russian, covering over 3000 studies, and over 700 further individual studies. Findings showed that arts can:

• Affect the social determinants of health, including support child development, encourage health-promoting behaviors, help to prevent ill health, and support caregiving

• Help people experiencing mental illness, including supporting people with neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders

Policy Ideas

• Support implementation of arts interventions where a substantial evidence base exists, such as the use of recorded music for patients prior to surgery, arts for patients with dementia and community arts programs for mental health.

• Share knowledge and practice of arts interventions that improve health.

• Recognize the added health value of engagement with the arts by ensuring that culturally diverse forms of art are accessible to all.

• Encourage arts and cultural organizations to make health and well-being integral to their work

• Strengthen structures and mechanisms for collaboration between the culture, social care and health sectors, such as introducing co-financed and collaborative programs.