More Countries Are Recognizing the Healing Power of Art

Research has shown that taking part in arts and crafts can significantly improve mental health, and an increasing number of countries are beginning to take that evidence seriously. The UK, Greece, and several Scandinavian nations are among those exploring how creativity can play a bigger role in supporting health and wellbeing.

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) reviewed more than 3,500 studies on how the arts can support health and wellbeing. Since then, it has published guidance encouraging countries to include the arts in their healthcare strategies and to strengthen collaboration between the health and cultural sectors.

To help put this research into practice, the WHO Regional Office for Europe launched the Jameel Arts & Health Lab. The global initiative combines scientific evidence, artist advocacy, and public campaigns to encourage the integration of the arts into healthcare.

In the UK, art is already an important part of the National Health Service (NHS), with several hospitals and medical centers displaying paintings, sculptures, and more. In Scotland, the NHS Tonic Collection includes 2,500 artworks displayed across over 30 NHS Lothian sites. And charities like Art in Healthcare are working across the country to improve health and wellbeing for individuals and communities.

Wales has taken a proactive approach for years. In 2017, the Arts Council of Wales partnered with the Welsh NHS Confederation to raise awareness of the arts’ health benefits and help guide government policy. Since 2022, the Arts Council has invested £6.8 million (approximately $9.1 million) in grants in the arts and health space, and continues to promise more.

Wales’ new Culture and Sports Minister Heledd Fychan has pledged to take practical steps to integrate the arts into healthcare. She proposed, “As part of our First 100 Days plan, we will commission a review of opportunities for investment in culture, the arts, and sport, to inform a progressive increase in arts, culture, and sport spending, tied to a wider shift to preventative health and wellbeing activity across government.”

Stephen Stapleton, the co-director of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab says, “With UK healthcare embracing a shift from treatment to prevention and hospital to community as part of the NHS’s 10-year plan, the arts are primed to play an important role in health system transformation across the four [UK] nations.”

Greece has gone a step further by making “cultural prescriptions” part of its national healthcare system. Doctors can now refer people with conditions such as anxiety and depression to take part in creative activities at galleries, theaters, and community arts spaces. Scandinavian countries are making similar progress. Denmark and Sweden are trialling arts-on-prescription programs through a regional pilot, while the Nordic School of Arts and Health is helping expand research and creative health projects across the region.

Even simply looking at art can benefit your health. Research by Daisy Fancourt, professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London, has found that engaging with the arts—including visiting museums—can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. As she puts it, “If the arts were a pill, we would be taking it every single day.” Her book, Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health, has also helped bring wider attention to the growing role of creativity in health and wellbeing.

As more countries invest in creative health initiatives, painting, music, dance, and museum visits may soon become as familiar a part of healthcare as exercise and nutrition.

Find out more about how countries around the world are integrating the arts into healthcare on the Arts in Health website.