About
Voluntary Arts (now Creative Lives) is the development agency for voluntary arts groups, ranging from choirs to quilt-makers, dance groups to painting societies, drama groups to samba bands. Its head office team approached Anita to help develop greater awareness of the work that one of its regional teams had carried out in the area of arts and health. This included a book, Restoring the Balance: the effects of arts participation on health*.
They wanted to convince health professionals that voluntary arts groups could be a low-cost (or no-cost) way to involve patients in creative activities that would benefit their health – particularly those with long-term conditions such as stroke, Alzheimers and heart disease.
How I helped
The work involved:
- finding more evidence to back up the arguments for the value of the arts/creative activities for people with long-term conditions;
- creating and copywriting for Healthy, social, creative – a website targeted to occupational therapists and other allied health professionals;
- writing practical guidance sheets for health professionals;
- securing and writing a series of articles raising awareness amongst health professionals of the case for the voluntary arts and signposting to the website. This included one in a peer-reviewed, evidence-based journal.
- making links with some of the long-term conditions charities.
Read the articles
A new way of looking at creative activities and health – Occupational Therapy News
Creative opportunities for patients’ wellbeing – Primary Health Care (evidence-based journal for the nursing profession)