RO LE O F ART S
Arts on prescription – five steps to success Tim Joss Chief Executive and founder of Aesop
The UK has a world class arts sector. Its potential to contribute to social prescribing is enormous but, to quote an All Party Parliamentary Group report (2017), only ‘a small modicum of the potential contribution’ has so far been realised. Thanks to the energy and imagination of many people in both health and the arts, there is new momentum ‘at the forefront’. Five steps to success are recommended, starting with stronger communication, respect and understanding between the health and arts sectors.
© Journal of holistic healthcare
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I’m a social entrepreneur. Looking back over the organisations and initiatives I led or founded, ‘bridge building’ has been a common theme. Four years ago, I left the privileged position of directing one of the larger charitable foundations to found Aesop Aesop (arts enterprise with a social purpose) and play my part in connecting the arts world with other sectors including education, international development and criminal justice. Behind this stood a conviction that the arts have not realised their massive potential to improve the lives of people and communities. We decided that health would be the first focus.
A new bridge Social prescribing creates a new bridge between health and the arts – arts on prescription as it is now known. As social prescribing grows, there is every chance that trust, confidence and collaborations between arts and health professionals will grow too, leading to many patients’ improved health and wellbeing. Social prescribing offers an opportunity to leave behind the depressing conclusion of a major report of 2017. Creative Health, the result of a two-year inquiry commissioned by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing, found that ‘the United Kingdom is still very far from realising more than a small modicum of the potential contribution of the arts to health and wellbeing’. Thanks to many energetic and imaginative people in health and the arts, things are moving now. Aesop’s contributions have included the first evaluation framework for arts and health (commissioned by Public Health England, 2016), two sell-out national arts and health showcases for health decision-makers in partnership with the College of Medicine, and a survey of health professionals’ attitudes to the arts. Aesop commissioned ComRes to survey more than 1,000
Volume 15 Issue 3 Autumn 2018
GPs. The results were heartening: 66% agreed that public engagement with the arts can make a significant contribution towards preventing illhealth among the public. 44% also agreed that arts-based interventions can be a cost-effective way to deliver primary care to the public and improve health outcomes. 62% agreed that art-based interventions can make a significant contribution to improving the health and wellbeing of NHS staff. The big question now is how to make the most of this new momentum and the opportunities that social prescribing offers. Here are five recommended steps to arts on prescription’s success.
Step 1 – Build stronger communication, respect and understanding between health and the arts These sectors think and do things differently. Arts activity is project-based. Whether a community arts workshop or a Hollywood film, the activity is time-limited, of its time and place, and project-funded. Health activity on the other hand is service-based, aims to be universally available and requires sustainable funding. ‘Is this arts programme available in my area?’ is a common question asked
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