Engaging in the arts for enjoyment, entertainment or as a hobby can
be good for your mental, social and physical wellbeing, according to
researchers at The University of Western Australia. (
Medical Xpress)
The award-winning study, published in BMJ Open, is the first
internationally to look at the link between general population health
and arts engagement.
Researchers found that engaging in the arts as part of everyday
life, such as listening to music, reading, painting, dancing, playing a
musical instrument, creative writing and attending arts events could
make a difference to the health of individuals and the community.
Lead author and PhD candidate Christina Davies said good mental
health was the foundation for individual and community wellbeing. "In
this study, arts engagement was found to make people feel happy, reduced
their stress and resulted in the creation of good memories," Ms Davies
said.
"Study participants also felt the arts gave their life more
meaning, helped them meet new people, reduced social isolation and
broadened their ideas and beliefs. The arts also had an impact on
general knowledge, identity and resulted in physical activity such as
walking and performance-based movement.
"Given the significant pressure on our health system, the arts may hold the key to a new type of health promotion and healing."
Ms Davies said the study, which won an Arts and Health Australia
Award for Excellence in November last year, provided 63 new insights
into the relationship between the arts and population health and was a
step towards the development of a causal arts and health model.
The ground-breaking research is part of the "Healthy Arts?" study to
look at the relationship between arts engagement and health in the
general population and was funded by Healthway.
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