Arts for Health
What is Arts for Health?
Art and culture make a significant and joyful contribution to our health and well-being. The salutogenic effect of art is part of our cultural history. Since the beginning of this century Arts for Health has established itself as a term for artistic interventions for the integrative promotion of health and well-being. Arts for Health refers to non-clinical but evidence-based interventions that focus on the participatory artistic process. Arts for Health does not claim to have a therapeutic character. The participants actively act as artists (in the making) and thus step out of being passive patients. Most of the Arts for Health-initiatives are usually led by professional artists and are scientifically monitored and evaluated.
Arts for Health: A Work-in-Progress
Since the 1970s, artists have become increasingly involved in social processes. At the beginning of the new millennium, one aspect of this social engagement has manifested itself in a particularly sustainable way: Art in the context of health and well-being. Social and natural scientists also began to explore the individual and social salutogenic effects of art and culture.
A preliminary highlight was reached with the publication of the World Health Organization (WHO): "What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and wellbeing" is a scoping review in which the results of over 3,000 studies are summarized and the relevance of artistic interventions for the management and prevention of diseases is presented. The report also addresses the fact that the integration of art and culture into the public health system can also bring economic benefits.
The now comprehensive body of evidence on the impact of art and culture on health has led to the integration of art and culture into the public health system in several countries, including art and culture on sick bills, e.g. as part of social prescribing. The EU has also anchored the role of art and culture in its New Agenda . One of the three strategic objectives is to use culture for social cohesion and well-being.
Arts for Health in Austria
Compared to other European countries, development in Austria is lagging considerably behind. Although there are numerous committed and successful individual projects, there are no structures that represent the overall picture of "art for health and well-being", connect interest groups, lead to greater sustainability of individual initiatives and broader access for members of our society, and harmonize artistic initiatives with constantly growing research.
However, the discussion about this is ongoing and was initiated by the Cultural Department of the BMKÖS (then a department of the Federal Chancellery) in December 2019 with the "Arts for Health" workshop. With over 90 participants, artists, art and health managers, the workshop met with great interest and was documented in a comprehensive event report. The magazine "Kunst auf Rezept" (Art on Prescription), published by IG Kultur in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Chancellery, Department for European and International Cultural Policy, also appeared in December 2019.
Another event organized by the association ARTS for HEALTH AUSTRIA and the Dance & Creative Wellness Foundation in cooperation with the BMKÖS focused on dance in the context of health and well-being. Around 150 artists and stakeholders took part in the online forum "Dance - New Moves in Health Care".
