Wellbeing

January 2020 marks a year of being in the role of Director for London Arts in Health. New Year is always a good time to reflect and look forward and so I thought I would round up some of what I have learnt a year in as well as what I am looking forward to.

A report from Australian independent think-tank A New Approach has added to the growing body of evidence that demonstrates the health benefits of arts and culture

The World Health Organisation has released a report consolidating global evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and wellbeing, with a particular focus on the WHO European Region

King’s College London and UCL have launched the world’s largest ever study into the impact and scalability of arts interventions on physical and mental health

The University of Florida’s Center for Arts in Medicine and ArtPlace America has released the white paper, Creating Healthy Communities through Cross-sector Collaboration

BBC Radio 4 is debuting The Poetry Pharmacy, a new series presented by philanthropist and leading poetry expert William Seighart which will explore the therapeutic power of poetry

Give: Volunteering for Wellbeing is a National Lottery Heritage Fund project led by researchers at University College London on behalf of the Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance in collaboration with the Horniman Museum & Gardens, Natural History Museum, and Valence House Museum. Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the project is making heritage more accessible to people experiencing health inequalities.

Researchers at the University of Bristol are conducting research in order to better understand wellbeing and are seeking people to take part in an online questionnaire study. The researchers note that most attempts to measure wellbeing and quality of life involve very short and general scales that do not really provide a true picture of the richness and diversity of wellbeing.

Give: Volunteering for Wellbeing is a Heritage Lottery funded project led by University College London on behalf of the Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance in collaboration with the Horniman Museum and Gardens, Natural History Museum, and Valence House Museum. Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the project aims to make heritage more accessible to people experiencing health inequalities.