Evaluating the Relationship between Arts and Cultural Engagement and Long-Term Health Outcomes in the UK
Lead Research Organisation:
Manchester Metropolitan University
Department Name: Arts for Health
Abstract
Research teams in the Nordic countries have generated evidence that regular exposure to cultural activities in general, and to film, live music and visual art in particular, increase longevity. In the UK, little analysis has been undertaken of the relationship between cultural participation and long-term health outcomes. The overarching aim of this research is to develop an evidence base for the long-term effects of arts and cultural engagement upon physical and psychological health.
In its first phase, this Research Development Project will test the Nordic findings in a UK context, by analysing extant English data pertaining to arts participation and physical and psychological health. In this endeavour, multiple sources will be drawn upon - from the Taking Part survey (co-ordinated by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in partnership with Arts Council England, English Heritage and Sport England) to data gathered via the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale by arts and health organisations in Greater Manchester. A new dataset will be created and made widely available to arts and health researchers working in the UK and beyond, enabling analysis of the relationship between arts participation and physical and psychological health to continue beyond the end of this project.
This research programme will then move to consider the validity of the data being collected in this area. The methods that are currently in use, or in the process of being developed, to assess the relationship between arts participation and long-term health benefits have generally been established at some distance from the international arts and health sector. This project will involve both UK-based stakeholders and international experts in a bid to determine how these metrics might be made more appropriate to the sector. Consultation with arts and health professionals in the UK and the Nordic countries will be vital to this process.
This project is proposed by the strategic agency, Arts for Health, founded at Manchester Metropolitan University in 1987. Arts for Health maintains significant links with those active in the arts and health field in the Nordic countries, several of whom have expressed their willingness to be consulted.
This research programme is expected to generate invaluable evidence about the relationship between arts participation and physical and psychological health. As such, the academic beneficiaries of this project range from those working in the cultural field to those engaging with research in medicine and neuroscience.
Of equal importance will be the impact of the project upon non-academic beneficiaries, including policy-makers, professionals working at the interface between the arts and health and the broader population. If it proves possible to substantiate a positive correlation between arts participation and health, this will have considerable ramifications for the arts and health sector in particular and the cultural field in general. The consultation process involving national and international policy-makers and arts and health professionals will give rise to a series of recommendations which, if implemented, will transform the future of cultural provision.
The innovative character of this project lies in its willingness to look beyond official statistics and current approaches, in a bid to elucidate measures appropriate to the aesthetic and cognitive character of arts participation. In its entirety, this project seeks to contribute to discussions around methods for evaluating the health outcomes of artistic participation that go beyond those found in the UK Treasury's 'green book'.
In its first phase, this Research Development Project will test the Nordic findings in a UK context, by analysing extant English data pertaining to arts participation and physical and psychological health. In this endeavour, multiple sources will be drawn upon - from the Taking Part survey (co-ordinated by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in partnership with Arts Council England, English Heritage and Sport England) to data gathered via the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale by arts and health organisations in Greater Manchester. A new dataset will be created and made widely available to arts and health researchers working in the UK and beyond, enabling analysis of the relationship between arts participation and physical and psychological health to continue beyond the end of this project.
This research programme will then move to consider the validity of the data being collected in this area. The methods that are currently in use, or in the process of being developed, to assess the relationship between arts participation and long-term health benefits have generally been established at some distance from the international arts and health sector. This project will involve both UK-based stakeholders and international experts in a bid to determine how these metrics might be made more appropriate to the sector. Consultation with arts and health professionals in the UK and the Nordic countries will be vital to this process.
This project is proposed by the strategic agency, Arts for Health, founded at Manchester Metropolitan University in 1987. Arts for Health maintains significant links with those active in the arts and health field in the Nordic countries, several of whom have expressed their willingness to be consulted.
This research programme is expected to generate invaluable evidence about the relationship between arts participation and physical and psychological health. As such, the academic beneficiaries of this project range from those working in the cultural field to those engaging with research in medicine and neuroscience.
Of equal importance will be the impact of the project upon non-academic beneficiaries, including policy-makers, professionals working at the interface between the arts and health and the broader population. If it proves possible to substantiate a positive correlation between arts participation and health, this will have considerable ramifications for the arts and health sector in particular and the cultural field in general. The consultation process involving national and international policy-makers and arts and health professionals will give rise to a series of recommendations which, if implemented, will transform the future of cultural provision.
The innovative character of this project lies in its willingness to look beyond official statistics and current approaches, in a bid to elucidate measures appropriate to the aesthetic and cognitive character of arts participation. In its entirety, this project seeks to contribute to discussions around methods for evaluating the health outcomes of artistic participation that go beyond those found in the UK Treasury's 'green book'.
Planned Impact
In seeking to make a significant contribution to evaluations of the relationship between arts and cultural engagement and long-term health outcomes, this project is expected to be of benefit to policy-makers, professionals working at the interface between the arts and health and, by extension, the broader population.
The manifest lack of tangible evidence around the relationship between arts and culture participation and physical and mental health has created a gulf between those working in the sector and those devising relevant policies. By the same token, arts and health organisations report frustrations when attempting to convince funding bodies - from charitable trusts to private sector organisations - of the individual and social value of their activities. If it proves possible to substantiate the link between arts and cultural participation in the short term, and to point towards the replication of these results in the longer term, it seems clear that this will change the course of policy-making in the UK, increasing the effectiveness of policy and public service.
Evidence of a positive correlation between arts participation and health in the context of a receptive policy framework (engendered via the means described in Pathways to Impact) is expected to lead to greater resources for, and recognition of, those working in the discrete fields of arts and health and at the interface between them. This is likely to include those working in the cultural field - including museums and galleries - artists, health professionals, service users and carers working with people affected by ill-health.
In turn, this will have a profound effect on the cultural access being provided. While centred on England, this project is expected to have a knock-on effect in other parts of the UK and beyond. The impact this increased provision will have upon quality of life, health and creative output is immeasurable.
In terms of timescales, this project will be carried out as efficiently and effectively as possible. The creation and analysis of the arts and health dataset will be undertaken as soon as is practicable and the results disseminated immediately. In this way, the correlation between arts participation and health outcomes will be established during the period in which this project is operational (i.e. before July 2014). This phase of the project will be of most benefit to policy-makers and those working in the arts and health.
The same is true of the international consultation and dissemination of the results arising from it. The series of recommendations arising from the consultation process will be made before the end of the project and widely distributed to non-academic beneficiaries. This phase of the project will also be of most benefit to policy-makers and those working in the arts and health.
Changes in policy and methods of evaluation are likely to occur beyond the end of the project, with the Cultural Value Project as a whole creating the momentum necessary to ensure that this takes place. The aftermath of the project will be of most benefit to the UK population.
The manifest lack of tangible evidence around the relationship between arts and culture participation and physical and mental health has created a gulf between those working in the sector and those devising relevant policies. By the same token, arts and health organisations report frustrations when attempting to convince funding bodies - from charitable trusts to private sector organisations - of the individual and social value of their activities. If it proves possible to substantiate the link between arts and cultural participation in the short term, and to point towards the replication of these results in the longer term, it seems clear that this will change the course of policy-making in the UK, increasing the effectiveness of policy and public service.
Evidence of a positive correlation between arts participation and health in the context of a receptive policy framework (engendered via the means described in Pathways to Impact) is expected to lead to greater resources for, and recognition of, those working in the discrete fields of arts and health and at the interface between them. This is likely to include those working in the cultural field - including museums and galleries - artists, health professionals, service users and carers working with people affected by ill-health.
In turn, this will have a profound effect on the cultural access being provided. While centred on England, this project is expected to have a knock-on effect in other parts of the UK and beyond. The impact this increased provision will have upon quality of life, health and creative output is immeasurable.
In terms of timescales, this project will be carried out as efficiently and effectively as possible. The creation and analysis of the arts and health dataset will be undertaken as soon as is practicable and the results disseminated immediately. In this way, the correlation between arts participation and health outcomes will be established during the period in which this project is operational (i.e. before July 2014). This phase of the project will be of most benefit to policy-makers and those working in the arts and health.
The same is true of the international consultation and dissemination of the results arising from it. The series of recommendations arising from the consultation process will be made before the end of the project and widely distributed to non-academic beneficiaries. This phase of the project will also be of most benefit to policy-makers and those working in the arts and health.
Changes in policy and methods of evaluation are likely to occur beyond the end of the project, with the Cultural Value Project as a whole creating the momentum necessary to ensure that this takes place. The aftermath of the project will be of most benefit to the UK population.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Gordon-Nesbitt, R.J.
Companion to Global Cultural Policy
Parkinson, C
(2014)
The Arts, Authenticity and Exchange
in Public Health Today
| Description | By conducting a scoping review of previous research, I have discovered that significant evidence exists to suggest an association between engaging in the arts and enjoying better health. The previous studies conducted - largely in the Nordic countries - refer to life-expectancy, major diseases, dementia and obesity. This provides an important precedent for future research design. I have also been able to look more closely at the mechanisms that are proposed to explain this perceived association. This part of the project was written up as a report, published by Manchester Metropolitan University and launched at a related event in Feburary 2015. I also looked at use of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) as a measure of recovery in arts and health organisations in Greater Manchester. |
| Exploitation Route | Various recommendations for future research have been made in the report submitted to the Cultural Value Project (AHRC) team. These include further longitudinal studies designed to address the dual possibilities of reverse causation and residual confounders, identified as the main weaknesses of previous studies. I have been employed by King's College London (January 2016 to June 2017) to apply the knowledge gained during this project to an Inquiry instigated by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing. Evidence reviews published during the course of this research programme (particularly by Arts Council England) heightened the necessity of creating an evidence base. Scope now exists to begin analysing data generated in the UK, beginning with the newly longitudinal Taking Part survey. This project also entailed an analysis of the possible mechanisms through which any positive association between arts engagement and health might operate. These findings might be taken forward to explore some of the explanations that are speculated upon in the case that any positive associations are observed. |
| Sectors | Healthcare,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| URL | http://longitudinalhealthbenefits.wordpress.com/ |
| Description | The evidence base produced as part of this project (see Research Databases section) was launched at the annual conference of the Faculty of Public Health on 3 July 2014. News of its existence has also been disseminated widely through the Arts for Health portal: http://artsforhealthmmu.blogspot.co.uk. At the time of writing (February 2016), it has received 4,986 views from all around the world. The research conducted as part of this project was presented in October 2015 as a keynote lecture at Everyone an Artist? A one-day Symposium investigating connections between culture, society, health and wellbeing. Another keynote lecture on the same subject was given at Queen's University Belfast in November 2015 and responded to by a panel of academics and arts and health professionals. The summay of the findings also found its way into my subsequent work researching and drafting the report Creative Health: The Arts for Health and Wellbeing, published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
| Sector | Healthcare,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic |
| Title | The Long-Term Benefits of Participating in the Arts |
| Description | This evidence base includes a summary of fifteen key studies exploring the relationship between engagement in the arts and longitudinal health effects. Where it has been possible to secure and cover the cost of permissions, a link to the original research article has been included. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2014 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | News of the evidence base has been widely disseminated among public health and arts and health communities. It is expected to provide a useful starting point for all future longitudinal work operating at the intersection between the domains of arts and health. |
| URL | http://longitudinalhealthbenefits.wordpress.com/ |