Image credit: Fresh Arts Festival, North Bristol NHS Trust © Jim Wileman
This blog brings together evidence, lived experience and practical examples to show how creative health can strengthen patient and service user experience across health and care. Drawing on national research, including the WHO Scoping Review and the Creative Health Review (2023), it explores how creative approaches can support wellbeing.
Featuring examples from inpatient care, mental health services, community settings and local systems, including Westminster and Birmingham, this piece highlights how creative health supports prevention, early intervention and more person-centred models of care. It also examines barriers to access, the role of community-based creative support, and how effective communication and co-production can improve engagement and outcomes.
A useful read for anyone interested in improving experience, reducing inequalities and embedding more humane and responsive approaches to care.