The Jameel Arts & Health Lab in collaboration with the WHO–Lancet Global Series on the Health Benefits of the Arts

Nisha Sajnani, co-director, Jameel Arts and Health Lab and Nils Fietje, research officer, World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, co-authored a report published in The Lancet titled, 'The Jameel Arts & Health Lab in collaboration with WHO-Lancet global series' on the health benefits of the arts.'

In the introductory article of the series the authors write, "Interest in the individual and collective health benefits of engaging with the arts has been increasing in the 21st century, particularly for addressing complex health challenges that have psychosocial, behavioural, and biological origins. The 2019 publication of the WHO scoping review on the evidence for the role of arts in improving health and wellbeing, and subsequent evidence syntheses, showed how active and receptive participation in the arts can play an important role in promoting good health and health equity, preventing illness, and treating acute and chronic conditions across the lifespan. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which balcony performances garnered public attention, we have seen high profile engagement from major cultural institutions, artists, and media platforms calling attention to the relationship between the arts and health."

Nisha Sajnani and Nils Fietje add, "'The Jameel Arts & Health Lab in collaboration with the WHO–Lancet global series' on the health benefits of the arts' aims to address these issues and other challenges. With a focus on non-communicable diseases, which are a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, the series will help sharpen the evidence base, suggest a conceptual framework to share knowledge within and between the two cultures, and move us closer to a whole society approach to prevention and treatment in which all available resources, including community-based arts and cultural resources, are mobilised towards increasingly holistic, effective, and equitable systems of care."