Creative Health in Birmingham
Creative Health in Birmingham
New resources from the Mobilising Community Assets to Tackle Health Inequalities programme
Mobilising Community Assets to Tackle Health Inequalities is a UKRI-supported research programme led by University College London’s Culture Nature Health Research Group, in partnership with the National Centre for Creative Health (NCCH). As part of this programme, we have been conducting place-based ‘deep dives’ examining the barriers and enablers to integrating Creative Health in different local contexts. Our latest deep dive takes place in Birmingham, where we have explored Birmingham City Council’s work in Creative Public Health. We are delighted to share our three outputs from the research, exploring:
- a model for cross-sector collaboration,
- the strategic context of supporting grassroots creative health,
- the role of cultural organisations in enabling creative health communication
Find out more about each resource below.
Implementing Creative Health: Birmingham’s Public Health Research Officers in Residence Model examines Birmingham City Council’s approach to embedding Public Health Research Officers within cultural organisations. Using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, the report explores how these roles have operated across different organisational settings, and what has enabled or constrained their development. It highlights the importance of boundary-spanning roles that can translate between Public Health, Culture and communities, as well as evidence the value of creative health provision. The report draws out practical learning around leadership, relationships, model flexibility, organisational support, evidence and sustainability for other places considering similar approaches.
“This is an excellent and timely report that captures the complexity and value of an innovative model- Public Health Research Officer in Residence. The report makes a compelling case for investment in relationship-based infrastructure, evidence generation, and cross-sector collaboration.” - Teresa Salami-Oru, Consultant in Public Health
Grassroots Creative and Community Infrastructure in Birmingham: Healing Arts, in Conversation captures insights shared during an event hosted by NCCH and Midlands Arts Centre as part of Healing Arts Birmingham in June 2026. Bringing together perspectives from community practitioners, artists, researchers, and Public Health leaders, the report explores what is needed for Creative Health to flourish at the neighbourhood level. Across the themes of healthy neighbourhoods, health inequalities, health promotion, culturally appropriate approaches, EDI, network development, evidence and impact, and strategic positioning, contributors emphasise the importance of trusted relationships, community ownership, sustainable infrastructure and connecting grassroots activity more effectively with wider health systems.
Creative Health Communication and Curation: lessons from Ikon Gallery is a guest article, co-authored by Regan McDonald. The article looks at how creative approaches can broaden the ways in which we communicate about health. Drawing on the work of Ikon Gallery and its Public Health Research Officer in Residence, including the What Are the Odds? exhibition, the article explores how artists, cultural spaces and hybrid roles can help create more participatory forms of health communication. It considers how choices about audience, place, curation and whose experiences are represented can move communication beyond simply giving people information, creating space instead for dialogue, lived experience and shared sense-making about health.
Click here to read Creative Health Communication and Curation: lessons from Ikon Gallery
How to reference the resources
Hearst, J., McDonald, R., Beckett, S., Wright, K., Grehan, T., Stauvers, L., Bonnell, A., Robinson, A., Varney, J., Burns, S., Harrison, H., Boyer, R., al-Azawie, J. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2026) Implementing Creative Health: Birmingham’s Public Health Research Officers in Residence Model. London: University College London. Available here >>
Hearst, J., Chatterjee, H.J., et al. (2026) Grassroots Creative and Community Infrastructure in Birmingham: Healing Arts, in Conversation. London: University College London. Available here >>
McDonald, R. & Hearst, J. (2026) Creative Health Communication and Curation: lessons from Ikon Gallery. Oxford: National Centre for Creative Health. Available here >>
For further information contact Helen Chatterjee: h.chatterjee[at]ucl.ac.uk.
To see our previous deep dives, visit:
Embedding Creative Health in Integrated Care Systems: Insights from Gloucestershire https://ncch.org.uk/uploads/Embedding-Creative-Health-in-Integrated-Care-Systems-Insights-from-Gloucestershire.pdf
Britain's Ketamine crisis: Adopting a creative community-based approach to the growing crisis of ketamine use https://ncch.org.uk/uploads/Blackpool-Ketamine-Study-Report.pdf
