Why Creativity is Good For You
We often get asked about why creativity and making is so good for well-being. We are happy to explain based on our experience as well as our understanding of the science.
Our commission from One Northern Devon in 2022 led to a Case Study about the benefits of socially prescribing arts activities with inputs from participants, community builders, social prescribers and artists. The report was developed by Take a Part Consulting.
In our 2021 Devon County Council and NHS enabled ‘Doing What Matters‘ project, we used Warwick Edinburgh Scale evidence to better understand the impacts of our workshops. We also held focus groups and created videos with participants.
Creative Health, a report and recommendations from the all-party parliamentary group on arts, health, and well-being, reviews current research and literature, as well as case studies from the perspectives of medicine and the arts, and importantly, participants.
This report, commissioned by Arts Council England, offers extensive evidence that:
Engaging in creativity and culture is linked to positive wellbeing, feeling connected, and motivation in people across a range of ages and locations.
The mental wellbeing of people in highly deprived areas can benefit more from taking part in creative and cultural activities.
By engaging with creativity and culture, relationships between parents and their children can be strengthened, while children can be more ready to start school, especially if they’re less economically advantaged.
Taking part in creative activities can help reduce a range of ‘negative’ behaviours in teenagers, including criminal behaviour and substance use.
The National Centre for Creative Health advances good practice and research, informs policy and promotes collaboration, helping foster the conditions for creative health to be integral to health and social care and wider systems. Creative Health Champion Case Studies are worth a browse!
This World Health Organisation report synthesizes the global evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being, with a specific focus on the WHO European Region. Results from over 3000 studies identified a major role for the arts in the prevention of ill health, promotion of health, and management and treatment of illness across the lifespan.