In 1999 the Health Education Authority reported that their "evidence suggests that arts projects and initiatives make a unique contribution to building social capital and enhancing well-being and self-esteem." (HEA, 1999).
Recent research for the Department of Health demonstrated "beyond reasonable doubt" that arts participation improved levels of empowerment among service users (Secker, J et al 2007).
The indicators and outcome measures developed and applied across a number of case studies showed both decreased social isolation and improved social relations. The processes, activities and contexts, benefits and outcomes identified are summarised below.
Engaging in creative activities, learning new art related skills and developing their creativity enabled many participants to connect, or reconnect, with their abilities and potential. This gave a sense of pleasure, achievement, pride and satisfaction, and resulted in reported improvements in confidence and self esteem. In turn, this had an important effect on participants’ growing motivation by creating additional interest, purpose and meaning in their lives. In particular, learning and focusing on art seemed to help individuals relax and improved their concentration. For some this also increased their awareness and perception of both themselves and their surroundings (Secker, J et al 2007).
At Emergence we acknowledge and value the international research carried out that aims to identify why art and creativity is important and the benefits it can bring to health and wellbeing.
We aim to use this, when appropriate, to support and strengthen our work and also to carry out specific research and evaluation to create our own evidence base.
To access relevant research papers, please follow the urls below:
