Culture and health

Goals:

  • To contribute to developing new knowledge and new insights into the connections between arts, culture, health and wellbeing
  • To survey and document existing arts and health initiatives
  • To explore the inherent value of art in health work
  • To explore the importance of the teaching artist in art and health work

Members:

National and international partners:

  • Associate professor Theodor Stickley, University of  Nottingham
  • Ph.D  Anita Jensen, Hans Knudsen Instituttet
  • Professor Anita Salamonsen, UiT Norges Arktiske universitet 

The research group's activities:

The research group has meetings where we discuss the members' research project and article drafts.

The research group contributes to publishing the Nordic Journal of arts, culture and health, a journal published by the Scandinavian University press twice a year. https://www.idunn.no/journal/njach

The research group is involved in the Nordic Arts & Health research network. The network has organized a conference and two network meetings in 2022, which the research group has helped to organize.

  • Arts & Health Policies, 10 May 2022 in Stockholm (Conference)
  • Arts & Health Policies, 11 May 2022 in Stockholm (Network meeting)
  • Creative Wellbeing, 6-7 October in Levanger (Network meeting)

In 2023, the research group will contribute to organise two network meetings:

  • Arts and public health. May 2023 in Malmö
  • Arts and health futures. November 2023 in Helsinki

For more information see: https://nordicartshealth.turkuamk.fi/

The research group is now working on a major international publication related to Creative wellbeing in collaboration with three of the departments at HVO.

Research questions:

  • What are the connections between arts, culture, health and well-being?
  • How does arts and culture provide health?
  • How can arts and culture be to used in a strength-oriented approach to promote "subjective well-being"?
  • What does culture and health initiatives mean for marginalized groups?
  • How is arts and culture used in health and care today (mapping)
  • Are there differences in health effects between participatory and receptive cultural consumption?
  • What common features can the artistic languages bring in as important factors to support health and well-being?
  • How can teaching artists support the health and wellbeing of students?