oa Effectiveness of Arts in Health Interventions in Clinical and Public Health Settings: What is the Evidence?

Although the visual and expressive arts and music have been used in therapeutics and diagnosis for centuries, only in the past two decades has evidenced-based research on the role of arts in healing achieved a critical mass to warrant inclusion of the arts in health systems both inside and outside the clinic. Qualitative and quantitative studies have demonstrated that the arts can impact prevention, management, and treatment of disease in addition to health promotion. Specifically, the visual, performing and literary arts have been shown to positively affect the following dimensions of health: psychological (coping, emotional regulation); physiological (hormone response, immune function); social (isolation, social support); and behavioral (skills, lifestyle behaviors, exercise). This talk reviews the current medical evidence for the efficacy of Arts for Health programs based on recent reports from WHO, UK government white papers, and published scoping reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses.