Healthy, social, creative

It started with the publication of ‘Restoring the Balance – the effects of participation on health’. Developed by Voluntary Arts to promote the impact of voluntary arts groups on wellbeing, it documents the stories of people from a wide range of backgrounds whose wellbeing, health and, in some cases, lives have been transformed as a result of arts participation.

Pressure on health budgets is increasing, and cases of long-term conditions such as cancer, stroke, Alzheimer’s and heart disease are rising (already accounting for three-quarters of health spending). Voluntary arts groups provide low cost (or no cost) opportunities for people affected by these diseases; helping them to manage their conditions more easily, keep well and happy, and remain actively involved in society. Although not a replacement for occupational therapy, arts therapy or other tailored interventions, they could provide a next-step or an alternative, sustainable and personalised approach.

The Voluntary Arts team felt that the real impact of voluntary arts groups was not being recognised by health professionals. And so the challenge was to get our message across to an audience that is not easy to reach, and is used to highly evidence-based practice.

As the political context was uncertain – with a change of government, and potential changes in responsibilities for health at a national and local authority level – we decided to focus our efforts on ‘grassroots up’. The audience we identified comprised of occupational therapists and community nurses, in particular those part of a surgery’s long-term conditions team. We felt we were in a position to support them in developing cost-effective and personalised plans for increasing their patients’ self-management and improving their social connections. By increasing a patient’s capacity to cope with long-term illness and boosting their general wellbeing we would reduce their reliance on health services and lower the chance of readmission.

The result? A campaign, backed by evidence, and a starting point for connections. The Healthy, Social, Creative campaign began with a research phase. There was plenty of evidence, but it was spread across books, research papers, reports, arts organisations’ websites, and databases, such as NHS Evidence. We located the latest and most convincing information and collated it on a new website. We presented it in a variety of different forms (case studies, quotes, hard evidence), categorised it by art-form and condition, and added links and advice on how to locate a voluntary arts group. We constructed the site around ‘need-to-know’ questions: “Why should I be interested?”; “What should I do next?”; “Where can I find arts/crafts?”. And we included material to help practitioners ‘make the case’ to colleagues and patients, including downloadable leaflets.

Next we had to get the message out. We decided to target health practitioners through the media they already use and trust; we successfully pitched articles to Occupational Therapy News, and Primary Care, the research journal for community nurses. We then created a factsheet – Making room for people affected by long-term conditions – outlining ways groups can make it easier for new and existing members with health conditions to participate in their activities, and we distributed it to voluntary arts groups.

We have made links with charities which focus on long-term conditions, such as The Stroke Association. Some of these carried published information on their website and publications, and we were able to carry out a number of reciprocal activities.

Voluntary Arts will be continuing to find ways to develop and share the benefits of the arts for sufferers of long-term conditions.