The Welsh NHS Confederation and the Arts Council of Wales have renewed their commitment to raising awareness of the benefits that the arts can have on people’s health and wellbeing and to embed arts and health initiatives across the NHS in Wales.
The two organisations have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which puts the arts at the heart of service transformation.
Over the last three years, significant investment has supported a national network of Arts and Health Co-ordinators to develop partnerships across the arts and health sectors within each Health Board area in Wales, and to identify the opportunities within the NHS for creativity to help address health and wellbeing priorities.
Developing these initiatives and schemes have proven to enhance both physical and mental health and wellbeing, keeping people happy, healthy and independent in their own communities for longer and to improve patient experience for people accessing health treatment in hospital or other healthcare settings.
Phil George, Chair of the Arts Council of Wales said:
“I’ve been delighted by the impact of our MoU partnership with the Welsh NHS Confederation and warmly welcome its next phase. Together we’ve shown that the arts can be of major importance in building the mental and physical health as well as the wellbeing of patients, health workers and the wider public.
“Health Boards and NHS Trusts across Wales are seeing the value of arts activity and are embracing this work with ever-increasing enthusiasm. Through this new MoU, we can develop and embed this exciting arts in health practice, growing expertise and reaching larger numbers of people”
Nesta Lloyd-Jones, Assistant Director of the Welsh NHS Confederation said:
“Since the Welsh NHS Confederation began our relationship with the Arts Council of Wales in 2017, we have seen an increase in awareness and understanding of the benefits that the arts and being creative has on people’s health and wellbeing, with many arts and health initiatives in Wales gaining international recognition.
“As we are all too aware, this year has been challenging for everyone’s mental health and the arts have been integral to keeping spirits up and bringing communities together during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Arts and health practitioners have used innovative technologies to continue to provide services to those with the greatest need in Wales. Going forward, and once the pandemic has passed, we will need to make sure we can offer these services to more and more people. Creativity should have a pivotal role in addressing the mental health challenges which will undoubtedly occur from the consequences of significant restrictions on our daily lives.
“That’s why I am delighted the Welsh NHS Confederation can continue to help drive this agenda and work with the Arts Council of Wales to make sure we can make these initiatives a core part of our preventative approach to health and care in Wales.”
Prue Thimbleby, Arts Co-ordinator at Swansea Bay University Health Board said:
“What can be achieved by working in partnership and across sectors is exponentially greater than what we can achieve alone, and this MOU has been an amazing example of that.
“Arts in Health has become accepted as a useful part of health provision in Wales. Projects have been developed which directly address health needs such as dance for falls prevention, reading aloud to address loneliness on the wards, drama based workshops to support staff wellbeing, as well as artists being commissioned to help create beautiful buildings that are pleasant to work in and help patients recover more quickly.
“As one patient said to me recently ‘having live music on the wards is the biggest transformation in health in years’. I call it bringing disruptive joy.”
