Creative Health

A creative act - crafting, art, cooking, gardening, singing, writing, reading - can help focus the mind, and has even been compared to meditation due to its calming effects on the brain and body. Even just gardening or sewing releases dopamine, a natural anti-depressant. Creativity reduces anxiety, depression, and stress… And it can also help you process trauma.

End of life care

Around 500,000 people die in England every year, usually after a phase of chronic illness. The participatory arts and arts therapies can offer physical,psychological,spiritualandsocialsupport to people facing death. They can assuage the pain and anxiety of terminal illness and assist people in coming to terms with dying. They can help people to find meaning in the story of their lives and develop hopeful narratives. They can provide access to deep, nuanced feelings, communicated through metaphor and imagery. They can form part of a legacy, through the creation of artworks to be shared with loved ones. They can give voice to those who no longer feel able to speak and restore a sense of control to those who feel powerless.

In end-of-life care, homely environments for the dying, grieving areas for the bereaved, religious and cultural places and quiet spaces for visitors and staff are in high demand. The arts can transform the capacity to cope with bereavement and open up a healthier public conversation about death.

Source : All parliamentary Group on Arts - the arts for health and well-being report  2017