Creative Health Review - Health Inequalities
People living in less wealthy areas, and people from certain populations die earlier and have a poorer quality of life than others. Creative health approaches can be used to improve health outcomes, and to develop culturally appropriate and accessible services. We know that where people are born, live, work and age has a huge impact on their health and so this theme looked beyond healthcare, also thinking about the role of culture and creativity in improving the places people live and strengthening communities.
The National Centre for Creative Health (NCCH) and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing (APPG AHW) Creative Health Review Report notes:
Health inequalities are not only socially unjust, they place a burden on public services and impact national productivity.
Health inequalities can be related to stigma and discrimination, which results in barriers to access to good quality services. Creative health can be used to support health promotion and prevention, and in the co-design of culturally appropriate services which meet the needs of underserved communities, and encourage new ways of working within systems.
Health inequalities are intrinsically linked to the social determinants of health. Therefore, in order to improve people’s health and wellbeing and reduce pressures on systems, we need to address these wider structural factors. Creative health is an integral part of community and place-based approaches to reducing health inequalities. In communities, creative health can interact with the social determinants of health to improve the environments in which people live. Creative activities build social capital and connection, and provide individuals with a sense of agency, meaning and purpose. Through creative health people and communities can be empowered to make positive changes and improve quality of life.
Statutory services can facilitate this way of working, through the development of supportive and sustainable infrastructure and resources. Tackling inequalities requires a whole system approach that addresses the social determinants of health and considers health in all policies. Access to creative and cultural opportunities, and creative health, must also be equitable. Strategies to ensure accessibility and engage those least likely to engage in creativity should be combined with adequate resource and investment, particularly in underserved areas.
Download the full Health Inequalities chapter here >>
Read the full Creative Health Review Report here >>
Explore our Health Inequalities case studies:
Further information about the Creative Health Review
The Creative Health Review highlights the potential for creative health to help tackle pressing issues in health and social care and more widely, including health inequalities The Review has gathered evidence that shows the benefits of creative health in relation to major current challenges, and examples of where this is already working in practice.
Find out more about the Creative Health Review >>
Commissioner engagement
A panel of esteemed Commissioners with a wide breadth of expertise have helped translate the evidence from the Review into recommendations for policymakers, this included Professor Sir Michael Marmot.
Professor Sir Michael Marmot has been Professor of Epidemiology at University College London since 1985. He is the author of The Health Gap: the challenge of an unequal world, and Status Syndrome: how your place on the social gradient directly affects your health. At the request of the British Government, he conducted the Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England post 2010, which published its report 'Fair Society, Healthy Lives' in February 2010. This was followed by Health Equity in England: Marmot Review 10 Years On.
Health Inequalities Roundtable
Central to the Review were a series of themed roundtables that were held between Autumn 2022 and Summer 2023. The Review has translated the findings from these Roundtable themes together with contributions into recommendations for policymakers to encourage and inform the development of a cross-governmental creative health strategy, which will support creative health to flourish and maximise its potential across key policy areas.
Watch the recording of the Health Inequalities roundtable here >>
Roundtable summary and overview >>
Listen to the lived-experience speech extracts from this roundtable:
Josie Moon & Kelly McLaughlin from East Marsh United >>
David Tovey from Arts and Homelessness International >>
Health Inequalities Creative Response
The Review commissioned a range of artists with their own lived experience to respond creatively to each of the Review's roundtable themes. Kelly McLaughlin responded to Health Inequalities.
“Photography became a hobby when life was starting all over. I soon realised after a day out with a friend how much photography gave me snaps of freedom. Now I'm looking at the world through a different lens, and the world looks back at me differently…Photography & Creative writing, is my medication”.
Explore Kelly’s Creative Response >>
