Evidence-based practices for integrating the arts into healthcare

We often say that the arts support healing and recovery. But how do you demonstrate their impact to people who trust evidence, data, and measurable outcomes?

This panel explores how to bridge the power of the arts with the language of science. The speakers discuss how to evaluate the outcomes of arts-based interventions and how to communicate their impact to governments, healthcare systems, and educational institutions.

Speakers:

• Nigel Osborne, composer, music therapist, and Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh — on his work with communities around the world and how he has successfully advocated for arts-based approaches.
• Vladyslava Andriushchenko, clinical psychologist and board member of the Ukrainian Association of Clinical Psychologists— on her experience of implementing arts-based practices at Kharkiv City Clinical Multidisciplinary Hospital No. 25.
• Iryna Holubetska, head of the Centre for Supporting Ukrainians Who Have Experienced Captivity, Torture, and Moral Injury as a Result of War — on her work with military personnel and survivors of captivity and torture through the arts.
• Mark Boumeester, researcher, author, and developer of educational programmes in media and visual arts — on how we can rethink the way we measure the impact of the arts.

Moderator:

Jonathan Walton, musician, programmer, and Clinical Trials Manager for the X-System project.

The Arts and Health Congress is part of Healing Arts Ukraine — an arts and health campaign to support military health, veteran recovery and civilian resilience in times of conflict.

Healing Arts Ukraine was spearheaded by Art Therapy Force as part of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab’s global Healing Arts initiative. The campaign was supported by the WHO Regional Office for Europe through the EU-funded Health Resilience in the Eastern Partnership Programme and co-produced by a national coalition of organisations working at the intersection of culture, healthcare, education, and policy, including the Lviv City Council, LME ‘Lviv radio’, the Institute for Cultural Strategy, the UNBROKEN Rehabilitation Centre, and King’s College London.