The report, commissioned by Art Fund in partnership University College London (UCL), brings together existing studies showing the wide-ranging benefits of engaging with art, including reduced stress hormones, a lower risk of developing dementia and a slow-down in physiological ageing.
- Access and read The Recommended Dose of Art: A Prescription for Health and Wellbeing,
Another finding of the report is that the health benefits of visiting museums and galleries are not widely known by the public. 89% of survey adults in the UK do not engage with art on a monthly basis, as the report recommends. Only 17% of respondents finds one benefit to visit museums as supporting mental wellbeing, while just 7% recognised their potential benefits to physical health.
At the same time there is a vast number of studies and reports that point to the many benefits of engaging with art and visiting museums. One of the studies cited in the report found that people who regularly visit museums and galleries could almost halve their risk of developing depression over the following decade. Another explores the connection between art and longevity, while a third suggests that engaging with original artworks may have a greater effect on stress levels than looking at reproductions. Another study found that older adults who attend museums, galleries or concerts have 32% lower odds of reporting loneliness 10 years later than those who are less culturally active.
In the introduction, Daisy Fancourt, professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London (UCL), writes that regular engagement with art should be regarded as a health-promoting behaviour alongside having a balanced diet and exercising. One museum visit per year is not enough to experience the health benefits from art, just as one run per year will not drastically improve physical health. Finding a way of making museum visits a monthly routine might be hard at first, but the potential health benefits this lifestyle change would bring are clear.
- Learn more in an article by the Museums Association (UK)
