Evidence

The Music for Healthy Lives Research and Practice Network is a collaboration between Nordoff Robbins and Leeds University, created to develop further evidence to support existing knowledge in this area, to promote and connect music practitioners to healthcare providers; and to increase cooperation and collaboration between members of the network.

The network's objectives are:

In a speech at the King’s Fund on 6 November, Matt Hancock focused heavily on the role of creativity and culture in social prescribing and across the health spectrum.

Acknowledging the work of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing, he said:

The recently released loneliness strategy includes a commitment to expand social prescribing and states that the "Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will work with Arts Council England to address loneliness through its programmes, as well as utilising the loneliness measure in its work. Alongside this, the department will raise awareness of the role that libraries can play, including through Libraries Week".

Arts Professional are conducting a survey of pay in the cultural sector with a view to creating a comprehensive evidence that supports efforts to increase equality and diversity in the sector.

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To kick-start the autumn, LAHF has commissioned a series of blogs about the future of arts and health which we will be publishing daily over the next 2 weeks. The blogs, from leading practitioners working across the spectrum of creativity and wellbeing ask where this work is heading and what challenges and opportunities might open up in the year ahead. The blog series will begin on Monday 10th September and a new blog will be published each weekday until 21st September.

The Centre is being created to advance understanding of the value of arts and culture in the UK and abroad.

It will synthesise existing research and bring together organisations and sectors with an interest in using evidence about cultural value in their work.

The Centre will be funded jointly by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Paul Hamlyn Foundation (PHF) and Arts Council England (ACE), with a major investment of around £2.5 million over five years.

This year’s Engage conference focuses on collaborations between the arts, health and education and is hosted by the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester, a centre for excellence in arts and health.

Engage is the lead advocacy and training network for gallery education.

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The latest release from the Office of National Statistics shows a slight increase in reported personal wellbeing over the past year.

The figures also show a slight increase in personal feelings of anxiety. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/bulletins/measuringnationalwellbeing/october2016toseptember2017

The conference will feature practical insights into Social Prescribing and arts and health work across the South West, as well as a showcase of regional work from across the South West.

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A new study published in The International Journal of Mental Health Promotion suggests that active participation in the arts can improve wellbeing and social inclusion for a period of at least six months after the activity. Researchers at Anglia Ruskin University evaluated 12-week arts courses run by Open Arts Essex for mental health service users, carers and self-referred individuals.