Research

The UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) includes the Wellcome Trust, Research Councils, and the Department of Health, and is seeking sustainable and cost-effective ways of improving UK population health and reducing health inequalities by preventing non-communicable diseases. A funding call will follow later in 2017.

UKPRP is inviting expressions of interest to attend the UKPRP Networking and Collaboration event.

"Being disabled in Britain: A journey less equal" highlights the many disadvantages and inequalities still faced by disabled people, including those with mental health problems. The report is designed to help UK and devolved governments improve law and policy to ensure services meet the needs of disabled people, and to support disability groups by strengthening their case for change.

The Arts Health Early Career Research Network (ECRN) brings together early career researchers working on projects that lie at the intersection of the arts, humanities, health and medicine.

The ECRN has three aims:

1. To LINK together early career researchers through social events, networking opportunities and workshops

2. To provide podcasts and newsletters to help early career researchers LEARN more about the field

3. To run training events to enable early career researchers to LEAD their own research projects

In a first for Arts Council England, the two institutions will come together under a new formal agreement to work on creative leadership, global research programmes, and community engagement. The partnership will also create opportunities for cultural and artistic engagement in London’s East End, where the university is based.

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The £1m grant has been awarded to a project at the Centre for Performance Science, a cross-institutional partnership between the Royal College of Music (RCM) and Imperial College London, and will allow the team to explore the impact of the arts and culture from individual, social, and economic perspectives.

The Mariani Foundation, in partnership with Harvard Medical School and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is continuing a series of annual ‘Neuromusic’ conferences. The central theme of this sixth conference is Music, Sound and Health.

The programme will include symposia, poster sessions, a workshop and a keynote lecture.

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New research in Canada has explored the impact of economic uncertainties and inequality on cultural and civic participation and on subjective wellbeing.

The research suggests that the financial crisis of 2008 has had a long-term effect on people’s wellbeing and their capacity to participate in the arts and in civic society. The report, from the Canadian Index of Wellbeing, argues that economic and social factors which limit participation in the arts negatively affect subjective wellbeing. It explores the growing gap between an economy’s GDP and its people’s wellbeing.

More than a quarter (28%) of the British public is unable to correctly identify any potentially modifiable risk factor for developing dementia, according to new findings from the British Social Attitudes survey, commissioned by Public Health England.

There is growing evidence that a third of dementia cases could be a result of factors potentially in our control, and actions like taking regular exercise and not smoking can reduce your risk of developing it. This means there is huge potential for prevention.

A new report by UNESCO examines the link between investment in culture and sustainability in the development of cities. It concludes that culture is “a strategic asset for creating cities that are more inclusive, creative and sustainable”.