Developing evaluation knowledge, capacity and resources for the arts and health sector

This project stems from a long-standing collaboration between Willis Newson (WN), the leading UK arts and health consultants, and Professor Daykin, a leading international scholar and the first Professor of Arts in Health. Developing evaluation methodologies is a critical priority for the emergent arts and health sector. There is a burgeoning interest in the role of arts and culture in improving health and wellbeing, and a growing evidence base has identified a wide range of health and wellbeing outcomes. However, there is a lack of consensus about the best way of evidencing the value and impact of arts on health and wellbeing. Most evaluation takes place outside of academia and practitioners can find it difficult to keep up to date with developments in methodology. There is a need to support practitioners in their evaluation practice, which extends across a range of approaches, including creative methodologies.

The overall project aim is to strengthen practice led evaluation for the arts and health field, locally, nationally and internationally. The project also seeks to make health professionals, commissioners, researchers and funding bodies aware of the contribution of arts based approaches.

The project objectives include working with leading experts to develop knowledge and resources for arts and health evaluation. The project will seek to support practitioners by providing learning and CPD opportunities including workshops, seminars and online resources. The project will also develop a dedicated website to support dissemination, networking and ongoing development of arts and health evaluation knowledge and resources.

A peer learning process is proposed, organised around key questions, including:
1. What underlying models, methodologies and frameworks, including ethical frameworks and practices, are currently applied in arts and health evaluation?
2. How can these frameworks and methodologies realistically be improved?
3. What are the key components of an overarching framework that can support best practice in arts and health evaluation?
4. What models, tools and resources are needed to support outcomes, impact and process evaluation in arts and health contexts?
5. How can practitioners be supported in developing creative approaches to evaluation?

The learning cycle will be divided into four main phases. Phase 1 will identify existing resources for arts and health evaluation, synthesising current evidence. Phase 2 will involve piloting and testing of emergent evaluation models across a range of arts and health settings and activities. Fieldwork will explore the experiences of evaluators across a range of methodologies including quantitative assessment, economic evaluation, qualitative research and creative methodologies. During phase 3 we will work with practitioners to develop frameworks, tools and resources for arts and health evaluation. In phase 4, a website will be developed containing the resources developed through the project. These will be made available free to practitioners and will include literature, project research findings, video lectures, guidance and tools. The website will be launched at a dissemination event, co-hosted with the SRG, which will draw in a wide range of practitioners and professionals from the arts and health field.

The project will be guided by a Stakeholder Reference Group (SRG), comprised of leading experts in the evaluation field, arts and health commissioners, arts practitioners and health professionals.

The project will benefit practitioners, evaluators, researchers and policy makers at local, national and international levels.

Arts and health is an emergent, multidisciplinary field that includes artists, practitioners, programme managers, health professionals and policy makers. Within the UK, the research team have strong links with several networking organisations including the National Alliance for Arts and Health and Wellbeing, which has, since 2010, drawn together representatives from nine regional organisations to provide a national voice. They have established a Charter for arts, health and wellbeing and actively promote evaluation and evidence based practice. Beneficiaries include the regional organisations, such as Arts and Health SouthWest, which has over 800 members who regularly undertake CPD and, in a recent survey, voted evaluation the second highest priority in terms of development.

Practitioners will benefit in the shorter term by gaining access to high quality, focused CPD activity, information and resources. In the medium and longer term, access will be maintained through the website resources. These will strengthen programme evaluation, leading to programme improvements and increased awareness of the role of arts.

Programme managers and policy makers will benefit from the research. In the short term, representatives from these constituencies will be included in the Stakeholder Reference Group. In the longer term, the project will stimulate evidence production as well as understanding of best practice and effective delivery of arts and health projects and programmes. This will strengthen delivery and support development of new programmes in a wide range of settings, including hospitals, primary care, social care, public health and community settings. It will strengthen understanding of the role and impact of arts across a wide range of health conditions and communities including mental wellbeing, older people and chronic conditions. In the longer term the project will strengthen the wider evidence base for arts and health, leading to enhanced understanding of the role of research, evaluation and advocacy.

Evaluators and researchers will benefit from the project. They include members of academic networks and groupings, such as the ESRC funded Arts and Health Academic Research Network led by Theo Stickley at Nottingham University, as well as academic researchers based in a growing number of centres for arts and health research. These include the Sydney de Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health at Canterbury Christ Church University, the Centre for Medical Humanities at Durham University, the University of the West of England, the University of Central Lancashire and Manchester Metropolitan University.

The project will benefit arts and health advocacy organisations across a range of art forms and disciplines. These include arts based groupings and health based groupings, such as the Royal Society for Public Health which has a strong track record of advocacy in this field. They will benefit directly, through membership of the Stakeholder Reference Group, from networking, exploring and sharing knowledge and experience. They will benefit from the opportunity to develop strong links across the arts and health sector and disseminate their work.

In the short term, members of these groupings will be directly involved in the programme as members of the Stakeholder Reference Group. They will benefit from networking, exploring and sharing knowledge and experience. In the medium term they will benefit from the opportunity to develop links and disseminate their work to audiences beyond academia. In the longer term international researchers and evaluators will benefit from knowledge produced by the project and disseminated in international peer review journals.