Creative Health Review 2023

OVERVIEW

The National Centre for Creative Health and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing’s Creative Health Review: How Policy Can Embrace Creative Health highlights the potential for creative health to help tackle pressing issues in health and social care and more widely. The Review has gathered evidence that shows the benefits of creative health in relation to major current challenges, and examples of where this is already working in practice.

Key Messages

• Creative health is fundamental to a healthy and prosperous society, and its benefits should be available and accessible to all.
• Creative health should form an integral part of a 21^st -century health and social care system – one that is holistic, person-centred, and which focuses on reducing inequalities and supporting people to live well for longer.
• Creating the conditions for creative health flourish requires a joined-up, whole system approach incorporating health systems, local authorities, schools, and the cultural and VCSE sectors.

Cross-governmental recommendations

• We recommend the development of a cross-departmental Creative Health Strategy, driven by the Prime Minister, co-ordinated by the Cabinet Office and supported through ministerial commitment to ensure the integration of creative health across all relevant policies. Such an approach will facilitate the establishment of sustainable cross-sectoral partnerships across regions and systems, modelled by national policy.

• The long-term value of investing in creative health must be recognised and appropriate resources should be allocated by HM Treasury to support the Creative Health Strategy.

• Lived experience experts should be integral to the development of the Creative Health Strategy.

• The Review includes additional recommendations to individual departments and recommendations for Combined Authorities and Metro Mayors.