Consuming art and culture is good for health and well-being, research shows

Most people are familiar with the buzz that attending a memorable play, movie, concert or art exhibition can create.

But now it’s official: consuming culture is good for your health and wellbeing – generating £8 billion a year in improvements to people’s quality of life and increased productivity.

That’s the conclusion of the first major UK study to quantify the impact that arts and heritage can have on physical and mental health and the monetary value of the benefits they bring.

Going to an arts event or participating in a cultural activity, even occasionally, such as every few months, provides a range of ‘significant’ benefits, including relieving pain, vulnerability, depression and drug dependency. found.

“Engagement in performance-based arts such as plays, musicals and ballet, and particularly participation in music, is linked to reductions in depression and pain and improved quality of life,” said Matthew Bell of Frontier Economics, co-author of the book research.

“We can value this impact in terms of reduced costs to the NHS, increased productivity at work and improved quality of life.” It’s even possible help delay the onset of dementia.

The research, commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), was a collaboration between Frontier and the World Health Organisation’s Collaborating Center for Arts and Health, based at University College London.

Prof. Daisy Fancourt, director of the WHO center and co-author of the study, said it showed that “arts engagement has diverse and tangible effects on health, from supporting cognitive development and protecting against cognitive decline, to reducing the symptoms of mental illness and improving well-being, reducing pain and stress, through the same neurological and physiological pathways activated by medication, reducing loneliness and maintaining physical functioning, reducing frailty and age-related physical deterioration is reduced.

“Engagement in the arts can help reduce unnecessary pressure on healthcare systems, by helping individuals manage their own health more proactively, such as staying physically active and socially engaged, and by reducing the need for hospital and nursing home stays.”

The report names 13 different groups of people – from young to old – whose health and wellbeing improved when they attended or took part in artistic pursuits, evidence showed. For example, over-65s who took drawing classes at their local museum every week for three months, in an initiative called ‘Thursday at the Museum’, earned a financial dividend of an average of £1,310 per person as they visited their GP less often and felt better about themselves. their lives.

Similarly, a study of 3,333 young adults aged 18 to 28 found that those who took part in organized artistic, musical or theatrical activities felt happier and their lives gained more meaning and value as a result.

Consuming culture and participating in creative pursuits such as painting earns individuals an average of £1,000 a year, Bell added. Frontier used methods from the Treasury and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) to estimate improvements in quality of life in reaching their conclusions.

The majority (£7 billion) of the £8 billion benefits to society that culture and heritage brings, according to Frontier, come from people’s improved quality of life, with the other coming from improved productivity at work.

The findings “suggest that not only could further investment in the arts be valuable to individuals and healthcare as part of a preventive health agenda, but that any cuts in arts funding or provision should also be viewed as a public health risk with individual and societal economic consequences. ,” added Fancourt, who also leads the UCL social biobehavior research group.

Chris Bryant, the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, said: “The research, commissioned by DCMS, shows how culture and heritage can have a direct impact on our lives, improving our physical and mental wellbeing, and emphasizes the importance of preserving our rich heritage. to ensure it can enrich the lives of many for years to come.”