We have brought together evidence on how and why creativity supports wellbeing.
The evidence shows:
This briefing is based on a rapid scoping review conducted by Brunel University London, in partnership with the Social Purpose Lab at the University of the Arts: London.
There is a wealth of evidence on the link between arts and cultural activities and personal wellbeing, but the reasons behind this relationship are less well understood.
Knowing ‘how’ and ‘why’ creative activities support wellbeing can help:
For us ‘creativity’ describes the process through which people apply their knowledge, skill and intuition to imagine, conceive, express or make
something that wasn’t there before. (Arts Council England)
This means that when we searched for evidence, it wasn’t enough that studies looked at arts, music or dance activities. They had to also say something about the role of creativity in these activities.
To understand the contexts and mechanisms that link creativity with personal wellbeing outcomes we:
We searched for studies written in English and published since 2003.
The studies looked at creative activities in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Lithuania, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Hungary, Finland, Turkey, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Hong Kong.
We looked at 16,434 studies – 68 from call for evidence. After synthesis, we included 55 studies, and five systematic reviews.
Studies were conducted in a range of settings including:
The creative activities varied widely, ranging from one-off sessions, to a series of workshops. Participants took part both in groups or on their own, and as part of both
facilitated and self-led activity.
Types included:
The people covered were:
Many of the studies didn’t fully report the characteristics of participants.
| Wellbeing outcome | Activity |
|---|---|
| ⇧ Subjective wellbeing | Silk painting, WhatsApp facilitated daily creativity challenges, creative writing, video-making, art-making, mixed art-making and art-interpretation activity |
| ⇧ Quality of life | Video making, art therapy |
| ⇩ Anxiety, Depression, Stress | Art interpretation, mixed creative writing with boxing activity, creative writing, WhatsApp facilitated daily creativity challenges, clay handling, 2D and virtual reality art making |
| ⇧ Self-esteem, confidence | Theatre, visual arts |
| ⇧ Positive mood ⇩ Mood disturbance | Mixed visual arts workshops, colouring, 2D and virtual reality art making, clay handling |
| ⇩ Fear ⇔ Happiness, anger, sadness | Colouring |
| ⇧ Social connection | Mixed creative and performing arts workshops |
Qualitative data provided insight into the contexts that can support the achievement of wellbeing outcomes.
The evidence we found was:
Although many of the participants across the studies were from the general
public, some wellbeing outcomes were associated with specific population
groups:
This doesn’t mean that the same activities wouldn’t benefit other groups, just that the studies targeted these groups in this case.
Overall, there were fewer men and fewer people from minority ethnic groups represented in the studies.
This may be for a number of reasons:
Some population groups are less represented in the evidence.
Policy makers – commission activities which reach people who are less likely
to participate in creativity, including using large-scale national and mega events as opportunities to bring new audiences to creative participation. Evaluating inclusive activities will help refine the evidence of which pathways to wellbeing work for different people.
Practitioners – continue to reduce barriers to participation and target people
who may benefit from creative activities but who may not think it’s for them. Delivering creative activities in different settings (for example, workplaces, green spaces, sport and leisure clubs) may lead to wider participation.
Researchers – study activities aimed at specific population groups (for example men, minority ethnic groups) and in settings (for example workplaces) which are under-represented. This may mean looking at interventions not commonly described as ‘creative’ but which meet the definition used in this review. Across the evidence base we need better reporting of participants characteristics (including age, sex, ethnicity and socioeconomic background).
Qualitative data shed light on mechanisms that lead to wellbeing outcomes.
| Personal mechanisms | Relational mechanisms |
|---|---|
| Active engagement and participation in creativity, including through creative interpretation. | Environments that foster trust, respect and support for creative endeavours. |
| Autonomy and choice around creative practices and journeys. | Positive interactions and connection, with other creators, friends, family and the wider community. |
| Feeling empowered and challenged to create and reflect. Valuing personal creative journeys. | Including people in decision making and co-production. |
| Experimentation and curiosity including learning new creative skills, and experiencing unfamiliar practices and materials. | Safe and supportive environments for experimentation and learning. |
| Making something meaningful and original, and the opportunity for self-expression. | Exhibiting and performing creative work to peers and the community. |
| Psychological and social strategies for coping with negative emotions, trauma and ill health. | Teaching and learning creative skills, and supporting different creative journeys. |
| Stress-relief, distraction and escape from daily life and negative emotions. | Skilled facilitation of creative activities and journeys. |
Evidence showed that not everyone has access to creative activities and enabling
contexts due to:
We also found the following negative effects for some participants:
These negative effects can be mitigated by ensuring that positive mechanisms are built into the design of activities.
Based on existing evidence, the model sets out the creative contexts and mechanisms associated with wellbeing outcomes, so that we know what needs to be included in developing activities that work. Not all the elements will be relevant to all activities or people.
Context – the settings the activities took place in, the people involved, the type of activity, and the delivery circumstances. It also includes the wider social and
political environment for the interventions.
Mechanisms – the behaviours, motivations, social norms, relationships, culture, resources, underlying structures and politics that lead to an outcome being achieved.
Intermediate and wellbeing outcomes – the changes that occur as a result of the activities, often building on each other over the course of the intervention.
A green plus indicates activities, resources and mechanisms that facilitate effective outcomes. A red minus indicates context and mechanisms that act as barriers to effective activities. Green arrow indicate improvements in wellbeing outcomes.
When designing new creative activities, or revising existing ones, you can use this model to test your ideas to increase your chances of success:
When evaluating existing projects, use this model to design your evaluation:
Creative interventions are complex and likely to involve more than one pathway to wellbeing. The right mix of ingredients needs to be determined by the people taking part in the activity, their circumstances and motivations.
The evidence found that creative practice experts can support wellbeing by carefully calibrating the design of an intervention.
Left/Write//Hook supported women who had experienced childhood sexual abuse and trauma to “find a connection to their body, mind and spirit” through weekly writing and boxing workshops.
By considering the women’s feelings, circumstances, and motivations, the designed activities made use of a mix of contexts and mechanisms that enabled them to achieve improved wellbeing, reduced PTSD symptoms and reduced depression severity.
“Throughout the program, participants wrestle with the meanings and profundity of the effects of their abuse and trauma experiences through writing, and then physicalise these through boxing to release some of the confusion, shame and negativity that the writing and sharing may have brought up.”
Lyon, D., Owen, S., Osborne, M., Blake, K., & Andrades, B. (2020). Left/Write//Hook: A mixed method study of a writing and boxing workshop for survivors of childhood sexual abuse and trauma. International Journal of Wellbeing, 10(5). p.67.
Although all of the mechanisms and contexts are important, the pathways for
different people are less clear.
Policy makers – use the model to develop programmes which focus less on specific interventions, and more on the contexts and mechanisms that are needed for wellbeing. Support practitioners to engage with the evidence base to test the most important mechanisms for their target populations.
Practitioners – use the model to design and learn from their activities, identifying which mechanisms are most important in their contexts and for their participants.
Researchers – use model as a framework to design evaluations and studies, so we can better understand how and why creative activities improve wellbeing for different people.
Effective facilitation of creative activities is important for wellbeing outcomes.
Policy makers – develop support programmes to identify and grow the skills,
experience and knowledge needed for effective facilitation of creative activities. Use large-scale national and mega events as opportunities to test and learn the workforce support and training that enables creative practice expertise. Work with researchers and practitioners to broaden understanding of effective practice expertise, so that more people can get involved in delivering wellbeing through creativity.
Practitioners – continue to deliver facilitated activities, and ensure that learning about the skills, experience and knowledge of creative practitioners is used when recruiting and training their creative workforce.
Researchers – continue to build the evidence on the role of facilitators and
creative practice experts, ensuring full reporting of the characteristics, experience and skills they bring to interventions.
The role of the artists or expert practitioner in facilitating activities is an important mechanism for supporting wellbeing.
Some projects paired creative professionals – such as curators, artists or musicians – with other roles – such as community development workers, social workers, or
gardeners. The combination was determined by the setting, activity type and population needs.
Effective facilitation was associated with some specific personal outcomes:
Ingredients of successful approaches:
However, the studies didn’t explore what training, skills or experience were necessary for effective facilitators.
Unlocked was a social prescribing intervention aimed at improving the wellbeing of prison inmates and probationers through arts workshops in prisons and community settings.
Soft Touch Arts delivered workshops where artists facilitated participants to learn and create their own meaningful artworks.
Referring to participants as artists was the first and crucial step in establishing a positive relationship between facilitators and participants.
The artist facilitators enabled wellbeing outcomes for participants by:
“While Unlocked practitioners do not wish to be seen as leaders and authority figures, they do begin the program in the role of leaders, guiding the volunteers through workshops and encouraging and reassuring them as they engage in creative activity.”
The programme’s approach prioritised hope, connectedness, meaning and empowerment – in contrast with more common rehabilitation interventions which focus on risk of reoffending.
Atherton, S., Knight, V., & van Barthold, B. C. (2022). Penal arts interventions and hope: outcomes of arts-based projects in prisons and community settings. The Prison Journal, 102(2), 217-236
The UAL’s Social Purpose Lab has a unique role and opportunity to grow our understanding of the links between creativity and wellbeing.
Alongside the general recommendations for policy, practice and research, we recommend that the Social Purpose Lab:
Abreu Scherer, I. and Musella, M. (2024) Creativity and personal wellbeing – contexts, mechanisms and outcomes, What Works Centre for Wellbeing.
The written content of this briefing is available under the Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-SA 4
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