AHA! CONNECTS – October 15, 2023
Today AHA! will share some of the exciting initiatives happening in the arts-health movement globally. This is by no means meant to be exhaustive; it is simply some of the work that has come on our radar. Acknowledging also the flourishing of initiatives within each art form, these we are sharing are the big-picture initiatives that we think will propel this movement forward.
The arts-health movement is a global movement that began about 40 years ago at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida. It is widely attributed to Dr. John Graham-Pole, a retired pediatric oncologist, now living in Antigonish. The movement has gained momentum in the US, the UK, Australia, NZ and in Europe, but in Canada it is still in its infancy. With a recent surge in programming across the globe, research is also flourishing.
Jill Sonke, a long-time leader in the field of Arts and Health, and Director of Research Initiatives at the Centre for Arts in Medicine at the University of Florida, shares her journey and stories in discovering the impact of the arts in health through a beautiful TEDx talk entitled, Why Medicine Needs Art, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23mve5S90Ws&t=895s
In 2017, the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing released their report, Creative Health: The Arts for Health and Wellbeing, https://www.culturehealthandwellbeing.org.uk/appg-inquiry/Publications/Creative_Health_Inquiry_Report_2017_-_Second_Edition.pdf
In reviewing global programs and evidence, this inspired report concludes that:
- The arts can help keep us well, aid our recovery and support longer lives better lived
- The arts can help meet major challenges facing health and social care: ageing, long- term conditions, loneliness and mental health
- The arts can help save money in the health service and social care
The team of authors offered ten recommendations which have since guided the UK’s implementation of numerous arts-for-health initiatives.
The World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019 published a Scoping Review of the Evidence for the Arts in Health and Wellbeing, with results collated from more than 3000 studies. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/what-is-the-evidence-on-the-role-of-the-arts-in-improving-health-and-well-being-a-scoping-review This review identified “a major role for the arts in the prevention of ill health, in the promotion of health, and in the management and treatment of illness across the lifespan”.
Daisy Fancourt, one of the authors of the WHO report, gives an engaging Serious Science talk on Arts and Public Health: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iBaF7y9msQ , summarizing the evidence for employing the arts in mental illness prevention and treatment, in childhood development, and in dementia and physical health. Rosie Dow, Katey Warran, Pilar Letrondo and Daisy Fancourt, in the Lancet in February, 2023, shared their work in The Arts in Public Health Policy: Progress and Opportunities, https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(22)00313-9/fulltext . This publication observes that, “the most promising and concrete commitments are happening when health and arts ministries or agencies work together on policy development”.
The WHO and the Jameel Arts & Health Lab have recently announced a new research series on the benefits of the arts to health: https://www.who.int/news/item/25-09-2023-ground-breaking-research-series-on-health-benefits-of-the-arts The intent of the series is “to compile the evidence that the arts (in all its diverse forms) contribute to improved health”. Neuroarts is a new scientific discipline based at the Brain Institute at John’s Hopkins University, studying how the arts change the body, brain, and behavior and how this knowledge can be translated into practices that advance health and wellbeing. The creators themselves admit that this shouldn’t be necessary with all the evidence from arts-health practitioners over the years, but that for whatever reason, the immense value of the arts hasn’t found its way to policy- and decision-makers and healthcare systems.
In 2021, Johns Hopkins International Arts and Mind Lab released its Neuroarts Blueprint, https://neuroartsblueprint.org/blueprint-report/ with regular progress reports published since. An introductory video is also available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fRPRldiwkI&t=527s The goal of the Neuroarts Blueprint is to “ensure that the arts and the use of the arts, in all of its many forms, become part of mainstream medicine and public health”.
The Blueprint confirms much of what has been observed by arts-health practitioners, including:
- music helps people recover from depression
- music improves memory in those with Alzheimer’s disease
- movement and dance reduce the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease
- watching a theatrical performance lessens the toll of chronic illness and reduces anxiety in palliative care patients
- drawing bolsters social and emotional wellbeing in children
- the visual arts are an effective treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury
- the arts can relieve burnout in healthcare and frontline workers
…and many other examples are shared.
One of the five core findings of the Neuroarts Blueprint is that “the arts impact human biology and behavior in ways that differ markedly from any other health intervention”. The University of Guelph recently announced the creation a new program, a Bachelor of Creative Arts, Health and Wellness (B.C.A.H.W.), the first of its kind in Canada. An undergraduate Honours degree program, B.C.A.H.W. students will “explore the artistic, psychological, and therapeutic components of the creative arts and their relationships to healthcare and human wellness”. https://www.uoguelph.ca/programs/bachelor-of-creative-arts-health-and-wellness/ Those who have been involved with arts-health programs and interventions have witnessed the power of the arts to be transformative in participants’ lives and in our communities. People with dementia better engage with others and discover other ways of remembering. People with neurologic illness can move and dance when they have difficulty walking. Hospital patients feel less alone and require less medication. Newcomers feel more welcomed and included in their community. Young people develop tools of resilience, better able to communicate, to cope, to nurture their self-esteem. Seniors redevelop social connections, helping to alleviate loneliness and isolation. The arts offer a roadmap to better health, individually and at community and societal levels. We are thrilled to see this movement gaining momentum both here at home and across the globe.