Creative Health Review - Social Care
This Creative Health Review theme looks at innovative ways in which creative health improves the health and wellbeing of people in social care and how creative health approaches can help tackle some of the challenges the sector faces.
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:
Creative health has benefits that are particularly relevant to social care, and can help to address some of the pressing challenges the sector currently faces. As a person-centred approach, creative health empowers people to engage in activities which are meaningful to them, enriching quality of care and leading to improved health, wellbeing and quality of life. For children and young people in the social care system, creative health improves mental health and wellbeing, facilitates self-expression, fosters a sense of belonging and has a positive impact on future outcomes.
In addition to the benefits to individuals, embedding creative health into social care systems will help to relieve pressures, keeping people healthier and living independently for longer. Where creativity has been embedded into care homes it has also been shown to have a positive impact on the workforce. In the current staffing crisis, creative health can improve job satisfaction and staff retention.
Creative health should be fully embedded across the social care system so that everyone has an equal opportunity to access its benefits. Whilst the sector is diverse, recognition of good practice in the Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessment frameworks would support providers to implement creative health as a core part of their offer, rather than a nice to have.
Download the full Social Care chapter here >>
Read the full Creative Health Review Report here >>
Explore our Social Care case studies:
- Blackpool Grand Theatre
- GemArts
- Live Music Now
- Music in Mind
- National Activity Providers Association (NAPA) - Arts in Care Homes
- Plus One
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 >>
Social Care 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 Social Care roundtable here >>
Roundtable summary and overview >>
Listen to the lived-experience speech extracts from this roundtable:
Live Music Now working with Appleby House Care Home >>
Social Care - 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. Mah Rana responded to Social Care.
"To be creative is an existential need; it is important that people can easily access opportunities to be creative in ways that are meaningful to them. Creative health helps to safeguard and stabilise mental health and well-being, and co-creativity can strengthen the relational elements of care through mutually beneficial interpersonal connections".