A healthy outlook?

Further recognition should be given by health and social care professionals to the benefits of arts participation, according to Health Secretary Alan Johnson. He was speaking at the launch of the ‘Open To All’ training package, part of a project to enable gallery staff to tackle exclusion and improve access for those suffering from mental health problems. The event was run by the National Social Inclusion Unit in partnership with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. Johnson stated that “the arts certainly have a key role to play in healthcare – its therapeutic value cannot be underestimated”, and added that he “would like to see the benefits of participation in the arts recognised more widely by health and social care professionals”.

However, his comments coincide with doubts expressed by arts and health professionals as to the commitment being given to this area by Arts Council England (ACE), which could lever funding and provide important advocacy. The discipline is not mentioned as a priority in ACE’s latest plan (see p3), despite the publication in April 2007 of both its ‘Prospectus for Arts and Health’ and its report ‘The arts, health and wellbeing’, in which former ACE Chief Executive Peter Hewitt averred that the arts “should be a strong partner” to the health sector.
w: http://www.socialinclusion.org.uk/work_areas/index.php?subid=109