CAE launches position paper on Culture, Health and Well-being
Engaging in cultural and artistic activities has been innate to us as human beings since prehistoric times. The beneficial impact of culture and the arts on individual and societal health and well-being has been highlighted by the cultural sector for a long time, and now there is a strong body of evidence confirming this. Engaging in cultural and creative activities is a health behaviour (similar to physical activities, good nutrition or being in nature). Both active and receptive (as an audience) participation in culture has a beneficial effect on individuals and communities.
Given the evidence base, it is time to move from project by project implementation and pilots towards systematic, long-term programmes and cooperations – bringing the cultural and health sectors together to work through a change of policies. The consortium of the CultureForHealth project has been advocating for this change, and we were glad to see a change in approach on Member States level as well.
In the EU Work Plan for Culture 2023-2026, EU Member States decided to work together on the topic “Culture and Health” in the context of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC)”. The “Culture and Health” OMC group, which comprises representatives from both the Ministries of Culture and the Ministries of Health from interested Member States started its work in February 2024.
In order to constructively contribute to this process, Culture Action Europe has organised a series of working meetings and consulted its wide-ranging cross-sectoral membership to draft a CAE position paper on the theme of “culture, health and well-being”. The position paper builds on and further develops the policy recommendations of the CultureForHealth Report that CAE co-authored, and includes further clarifications and policy proposals to advance the cooperation on policy level between the cultural and health sectors.
We would like to thank all Culture Action Europe members and experts who contributed to this process with their inputs, corrections, comments and questions.