The Power of Creativity for Health and Wellbeing

At the moment there is quite a bit of interest in the role of creativity in supporting people to be healthy and as a bit of an arty type (ex-art teacher, photographer and doodler) I really welcome the interest – you might want to have a listen to a Royal College of Art podcast on this or have a quick read of this article by Mah Rana on how Creativity is not an additional extra. 

Last week (May 18th to the 24th) was Creativity and Wellbeing Week in the UK and there were a lot of events and exhibitions to get involved with including poetry and writing as well as painting and numerous talks on the power of creativity. Organised by the Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance it is worth looking out for next year – they also have a load of resources including a ‘Creative Health Quality Framework’ to support good creative health practice.  

Of course whilst generally accepted that creativity can influence ‘emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility, and social connectedness’ and that there are many physical and mental therapeutic benefits of the arts there is some debate about the ways in which creative activity contributes to wider wellbeing, the long term effects, whether it is inclusive (have a read of Creative expression and mental health) and also concern amongst some arts groups that creative activity is being medicalised. 

Every week there are loads of creative activities going on across Lincolnshire, some of them specifically linked to health outcomes and many more simply happening for their creative value. Whether linked to ‘health’ or not they can all have positive health outcomes.  

It is great that LVET has many member organisations that bring creative practice to their wellbeing activities, and we know of lots of exciting work going on – and it’s not all about ‘art’. It might be dancing through Dance Free, music through SoundLincs and it may be focused on mental wellbeing like the work Mindspace does or even building and making like Men’s Sheds or the wonderful Toylander project that took place at the Askefield Project.   

Darkside Rising have been working with East Midlands Cancer Alliance funding to utilise videos, stories, poems and artwork, as well as creative colouring to share the stories of people living with Cancer and beyond through their Untold Stories project.  

Other examples include LVET members coming together – like Every-One and Wilder Doddington working with AgeUK LSL and artist Rachel Petheram on an innovative project supporting carers wellbeing through creativity and nature as part of Lincolnshire County Council’s use of Accelerating Reform Fund money. Information, resources and the evaluation can all be found on the Culture and Nature for Wellbeing page. 

As I am sure you will know I have an interest in photography as a tool for supporting mental health, through mindful photography, focusing on finding the beauty in the everyday things that surround you and just ‘take one a day’. Last year at the Take One A Day exhibition I met some wonderful people, had some remarkable conversations with people visiting the gallery and I became even more aware of the power of, not only creating images (benefiting the creator) but also of viewing the creative work (benefiting the viewer). I think this two-fold nature of creative work can be overlooked. 

It was at the launch of the exhibition that I was introduced to photographer Jeremy Jeffs, who along with Marion Sanders, has organised Remedy. Photography Festival – the UK’s first photography festival dedicated to health, wellbeing and identity that will run from June 1st to June 30th in various venues across Lincolnshire.   

I am really proud that LVET are supporting Jeremy and Marion, acting as the financial partner and Arts Council England grant holder. I hope that this is the beginning of a powerful partnership and it is one of the things that I believe LVET does well – supporting others to do what they are best placed to do – enabling them to realise their vision – ‘incubating’ others ideas. 

Where might we go next with Creativity and Wellbeing in Lincolnshire? I would love to get a dedicated post established to support the development of creativity and wellbeing practice in Lincolnshire and will be talking with LVET partner organisations about the potential of the Creative Health Leads Programme run by the National Centre for Creative Health.  

We would love to hear more about the work you do using creativity to improve people’s wellbeing – maybe we can coordinate some activity for next years Creativity and Wellbeing Week?