Jameel Arts & Health Lab - Lancet Global Series on the Health Benefits of the Arts

The Lab in collaboration with WHO has convened a landmark Lancet Global Series in response to the accelerating interest in the demonstrated benefits of the arts in individual and population health, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Scope

Bringing together leading researchers and artists from institutions around the world, this series will present new and existing research, and offer recommendations for the integration of the arts into health-promotion programmes, and for the treatment and management of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which are responsible for 74% of premature deaths worldwide, and a leading cause of disability. 

The series builds on recommendations from the foundational  2019 WHO report containing  evidence for the role of the arts in improving health and wellbeing. It also draws on a subsequent 2023 WHO report articulating that arts interventions are multi-modal, non-invasive, low-risk, and cost-effective ways to aid in the prevention and management of NCDs, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic illness, neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and dementia, and mental health. 

This unprecedented series will advance knowledge for improving global policy that seeks to integrate the arts into clinical and public health practices. This may include education and training, regulation to enable equitable access to arts engagement and creative arts therapists, and social prescribing – a way to connect people to a range of non-clinical services (such as arts and cultural programmes) to improve their health and wellbeing. The series is scheduled to be submitted in July 2024 with an anticipated publication date of April 2025, pending review.    

Project team

Led by Dr Nisha Sajnani (Jameel Arts & Health Lab, NYU Steinhardt) and Dr Nils Fietje (Jameel Arts & Health Lab, WHO Europe), the project team consists of researchers and artists from Chile, China, Denmark, France, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Nigeria, Scotland, Singapore, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The Lancet Global Series on the Health Benefits of the Arts was launched on 20 September 2023 at a special WHO75 Wellbeing Concert at Carnegie Hall, as part of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab’s United Nations General Assembly Healing Arts Week. Support for this project is provided by Community Jameel.

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