Arts and public mental health: exemplars from Scandinavia

Beskrivelse

Background: In the history of arts and health, Norse and Sámi traditions have largely been overlooked. Yet, the arts have been an important resource in health and care in the Nordic countries at least as long back as we have written sources. For a long time, this “old” folk knowledge has been undermined and replaced by evidence-based medicine. Much like in other countries, the move from ritual healing to evidence-based medicine was a slow process that happened over a long time. Over the past ten years, the Nordic countries have seen an increasing interest in arts and health initiatives varying from local projects to government initiatives benefiting individuals, communities and at societal level.
Methods: Numerous research studies shows that participation in arts and culture activities have health benefits including increased mental health wellbeing, enhanced life quality and improve social interactions and community building which are all determinants in public health and wellbeing.
Results: In this presentation, we revisit the history of arts and health in Nordic contexts and present about new developments in the field in terms of the arts in public health promotion presenting various examples from the evidence-base.
Conclusion: The evidence suggest that participation in arts and culture activities have public health benefits. We argue that arts and culture activities have a place in the future of Nordic public health.

Periode	21 jun. 2021
Begivenhedstitel	Arts and public mental health: exemplars from Scandinavia
Begivenhedstype	Konference
Placering	StorbritannienVis på kort