The little engine that could: how community-based cultural engagement bolstered local communities through the Covid 19 pandemic
Mughal, R., Thomson, L.J. Daykin, N. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2022). Rapid evidence review of community engagement and resources in the UK during the COVID-19 Pandemic: How can community assets redress health inequalities? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(7), 4086–104
This rapid evidence review assesses the emergence of community-based arts, nature, music, theatre and other types of cultural engagement amongst UK communities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on all community engagement with a sub-focus on provisions accessed by and targeted towards vulnerable groups.
Two hundred and fifty-six resources were included that had been created between February 2020 and January 2021. Most of those resources reported services that had been adapted to become online, telephone-based or delivered at a distance from doorsteps. Some were formed with the specific aim of supporting vulnerable individuals through the pandemic, whilst others were aimed at supporting the social, physical and mental wellbeing of the community as a whole.
It is important within this field of study to understand the efficacy of such services, including short-term and long-term impacts. Existing research has shown that participation in arts, nature, music, cultural and physical activities is key to public health and wellbeing; and this review found an abundance of resources and reports of cultural engagement amongst UK communities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with diverse foci and design principles.
See full article: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19074086
Resource Output from the Mobilising Community Assets to Tackle Health Inequalities (MCA) Programme
Mobilising Community Assets (MCA) is a three-phase UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funded Research Programme running from 2021 to 2027. It is coordinated by the Culture-Nature-Health Research Group at University College London, in partnership with the National Centre for Creative Health (NCCH) and funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), led by Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), with Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Medical Research Council (MRC). MCA has encouraged the projects it has funded throughout the UK to share knowledge and approaches to integration of community assets into the integrated care structures that exist in the local communities.
