The Art of Being Healthy and Well: National Symposium

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”