At a dance class in Boulder, Colorado, most of the participants have Parkinson’s disease. Some stay seated throughout. Others follow along using only their upper body or their hands. Occasionally someone starts singing. The class is part of a growing movement that has now attracted the attention of researchers, hospitals and public health officials: the idea that art and creative expression are not just enjoyable extras in life, but active contributors to physical and mental health. A major review of 95 studies across 27 countries found that arts programs can reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases, which account for 74 percent of preventable deaths worldwide. A World Health Organization report linked the arts to healthier behaviors, better child development and improved management of mental illness and neurological conditions. A study of museum visitors found that 15-minute mindfulness exercises in gallery spaces reduced anxiety and improved wellbeing in people who had no medical conditions at all.
The research has begun reshaping how hospitals operate. About half of all hospitals in the United States now have some form of arts program, but the University of Florida Health system has gone further than most: doctors and nurses can make direct referrals to an in-house team of professional artists who are on the hospital payroll. Last year that program delivered 13,000 arts engagements to patients, including dance classes for high-risk pregnancies and painting sessions with young patients. One young sickle cell patient found dancing so effective at managing her pain that her doctor wrote it into her chart as more effective than medication. A researcher at Stanford who has spent decades studying the connection says the evidence is now clear: access to the arts is a genuine determinant of health, and treating it as a luxury rather than a necessity is causing real harm.
