A number of themes can be drawn from this research. First, there is a substantial body of evidence on the health benefits of the arts. Research designs included a spectrum from uncontrolled pilot studies to randomized controlled trials, from small- scale cross-sectional surveys to analyses of nationally representative longitudinal cohort studies, and from individual case studies to community-wide ethnographies. Research methods included psychological scales, biological markers, neuroimaging, behavioural observations, interviews and examinations of clinical records. Research studies also drew on theories from psychology, psychiatry, epidemiology, philosophy, ecology, history, health economics, neuroscience, medicine, health geography, public health, anthropology, and sociology, among others. There was naturally variation in the quality of this evidence, and certain areas where findings remain to be confirmed or understood better. However, this review triangulated findings from different studies, each with a different set of strengths, which helped to address the weaknesses or intrinsic biases of individual studies. Overall, the findings from this review lend credibility to the assertion that the overall evidence base shows a robust impact of the arts on both mental and physical health.
A second theme in the identified research was a focus on conditions for which no complete solutions are available. Here, the arts hold promise in tackling difficult or complex problems for which there are not currently adequate solutions. Additionally, this review identified how the arts can provide a holistic lens to view conditions that are often treated primarily as physical; this approach fits with current trends in health towards giving parity of esteem to mental health and also towards situating health problems within their social and community context….
A third theme was that the evidence base did not just show efficacy of arts interventions but also showed economic benefits, with some arts interventions showing equivalent or greater cost–effectiveness to possible health interventions. The theoretical framework used for this report focused on the multimodal aspect of arts activities as this is likely to underlie the benefits. Arts interventions can provide multiple health-promoting factors within an activity (e.g. supporting physical activity and with components that support mental health); consequently, they may be more efficient for certain health conditions than the co-prescription of a physical activity intervention and a mental health intervention. Further, the aesthetic component of the arts and the ability to tailor them to have relevance to individuals from different cultural backgrounds means that they can be a route to engaging minority or hard-to-reach groups, who can have higher risks of poor health and concomitantly generate higher health-care costs….
For an introduction to the report, see here.
For other posts on arts, humanities, and health, see here.
H/t Gabriella Stern and Philippa Göranson
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