From Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
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The symposium will:
Catherine Martin, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, and Stephen Donnelly, Minister for Health, today announced a national symposium on creativity, health and wellbeing to be held on Wednesday 22 June 2022.
The all-of-government Creative Ireland Programme, the Department of Health (Healthy Ireland), the Health Service Executive and the Arts Council will co-host this gathering of policy-makers and practitioners from the health, arts and culture sectors to consider how best to harness the powerful contribution creative engagement can make to our health and wellbeing.
Interventions based on arts, culture and creativity in community and healthcare settings have been shown to improve people’s health, and to contribute to the prevention of mental and physical ill health, as well as to the management of a range of long term conditions.
In particular, the symposium will provide an opportunity to consider the evidence base regarding the health benefits of participation in the creative arts, discuss arts and health activities in hospitals that can help deliver better health outcomes for patients and their carers, and explore the operational role of the arts, culture and creative sectors in delivering healthcare and wellbeing in the community. Panellists will be senior Irish policy-makers from the health and the culture sectors, as well as national and international experts in the field.
Minister Catherine Martin said:
"The benefits that arts, culture and creative engagement bring to people’s mental wellbeing are increasingly being recognised in research. Indeed, this understanding was brought into very sharp focus during COVID-19 and the periods of social isolation we experienced as a result. I am, therefore, committed to collaborating with colleagues across Government to bring forward targeted, evidence-based initiatives that deliver benefits to health and wellbeing through arts, culture and creativity in a sustainable manner."
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said:
"The first mission of the Programme for Government is to ensure ‘A Better Quality of Life for All’ using a variety of wellbeing indicators. To that end, and, together with colleagues across Government, I am committed to the continued promotion of health and wellbeing as a personal, social and economic good for people individually, but also for population as a whole.
"The arts are essential to the health and wellbeing of our society particularly in bringing communities together. In fact, the World Health Organisation has highlighted the benefits of the arts and creativity in general in prevention of ill health, promotion of good health, and management and treatment of illness at all ages.
"I am delighted that my department has been in a position to fund and support targeted initiatives that build on this positive association between creative engagement and our mental health and wellbeing and I look forward to the outputs of this symposium to further our understanding and collaboration in this area."
Maureen Kennelly, Director of the Arts Council said:
"The value of the arts to society, in terms of facilitating increased health, wellbeing, connection, imagination, learning, enjoyment and wider cultural and socio-economic benefits has become increasingly accepted, and was underscored further during the recent period of public health restrictions bought about by COVID-19.
"The Arts Council also sees and values the contribution of health professionals, health service users, carers, friends and volunteers, to the development of the arts in Ireland. We are delighted to be partnering with our colleagues in the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, the HSE and the Department of Health on this initiative."
Paul Reid, Chief Executive Officer of the HSE said:
"The HSE are supporting the cross government strategy, Healthy Ireland, for many years and are delighted to be a key partner for this symposium. We are working in partnership to expand and promote the development of arts in healthcare service delivery, for our service users and staff, which supports and improves overall wellbeing. We welcome events such as this, bringing healthcare workers and partners together to share learning."
The symposium will be a hybrid of in-person and online formats with the in-person event taking place in the Royal College of Physicians, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
The Creative Ireland Programme based in the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media is an all-of-government initiative designed to promote creativity as a strategy for wellbeing, social cohesion, and economic success. Its core proposition is that participation in cultural and creative activity promotes individual, community and national wellbeing. The Programme therefore seeks to support each citizen - whether individually or collectively, in our personal lives or in our institutions - to realise our full creative potential, by encouraging, facilitating and supporting collaboration. To this end, and under the guiding principles of creativity, collaboration and transformation, the Programme strives to promote understanding and appreciation of the value of creativity in all its forms and engage and influence decision-makers to embed creativity across public policy.
The Health and Wellbeing Programme in the Department of Health leads the coordination of implementation of Healthy Ireland, the national framework to improve the health and wellbeing of the people of Ireland (2013-2025). As the health self-empowerment part of the implementation of the Sláintecare vision for the future of health and social care services in Ireland, the Programme works closely with colleagues across other government departments, the HSE and a wide range of partners and stakeholders. The Programme oversees the implementation of a number of policies and strategies under the Healthy Ireland umbrella, including the National Obesity Policy, the National Physical Activity Plan and the National Sexual Health Strategy, as well as managing the Healthy Ireland Fund, publishing the annual Healthy Ireland Survey and running national citizen engagement and empowerment campaigns.