Jameel Arts & Health Lab - Lancet Global Series on the Health Benefits of the Arts

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Lead Researchers

Nisha Sajnani, Nils Fietje

Status

In progress

Lead institutions

NYU Steinhardt, WHO Europe

Type

Global series

Publications

Commentary

The Jameel Arts & Health Lab – Lancet Global Series on the Health Benefits of the Arts

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Press

WHO Newsroom

Ground-breaking research series on health benefits of the arts

The Art Newspaper

Could the arts be good for your health?

Creative Brain Week

Watch the panel discussion

View video

The Lab in collaboration with WHO has convened a landmark Lancet Global Series in response to the accelerating interest in the demonstrated benefits of the arts in individual and population health, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scope

Bringing together 56 leading researchers and artists from institutions around the world, this series will present new and existing research, and offer recommendations for the integration of the arts into health-promotion programmes, and for the treatment and management of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which are responsible for 74% of premature deaths worldwide, and a leading cause of disability.

The series builds on recommendations from the foundational 2019 WHO report containing evidence for the role of the arts in improving health and wellbeing. It also draws on a subsequent 2023 WHO report articulating that arts interventions are multi-modal, non-invasive, low-risk, and cost-effective ways to aid in the prevention and management of NCDs, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic illness, neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and dementia, and mental health.

This unprecedented series will advance knowledge for improving global policy that seeks to integrate the arts into clinical and public health practices. This may include education and training, regulation to enable equitable access to arts engagement and creative arts therapists, and social prescribing – a way to connect people to a range of non-clinical services (such as arts and cultural programmes) to improve their health and wellbeing. The series is scheduled to be submitted in July 2024 with an anticipated publication date of April 2025, pending review.

Deliverables and Insights

Pending peer review, the series will include the following:

A conceptual framework and introduction to the relationship between general and targeted arts engagement on health outcomes
A systematic review of primary research into the role of the arts in health promotion and prevention of NCDs
An umbrella review and meta-analysis of evidence about arts-based interventions in the treatment and management of NCDs
An epidemiological study using existing nationally representative data from eight counties to explore predictors of arts engagement for health
A curated photo-essay to illustrate how the arts have been used in health promotion and to support recovery, with an emphasis on the diversity of practices in this field

Project team

Led by Dr Nisha Sajnani (JAHL, NYU Steinhardt) and Dr Nils Fietje (JAHL, WHO Europe), the project team consists of researchers and artists from Australia, Belgium, Chile, China, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malawi, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Scotland, Singapore, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, the US, and the UK.

The Lancet Global Series on the Health Benefits of the Arts was launched on 20 September 2023 at a special WHO75 Wellbeing Concert at Carnegie Hall, as part of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab’s United Nations General Assembly Healing Arts Week. Support for this project is provided by Community Jameel.