In March 2014, an evidence review by Arts Council England (ACE), entitled The Value of Arts and Culture to People and Society, included health and well-being as one of its four key themes. This drew upon recent reports generated in the UK, including those by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Scottish Government, to claim that ‘These studies show that arts and cultural activities can have a positive impact on the symptoms of conditions, for example improved cognition, physical stability, or self-esteem, and the ability of people to manage them, for example through changes in behaviour and increased social contact’. While this statement jumbles together physical and psychological impacts, it rightly suggests that a wealth of cross-sectional studies has illustrated the beneficial short-term effect of arts engagement upon a range of symptoms.
Arts Council England, The Value of Arts and Culture to People and Society: An Evidence Review (London: Arts Council England, 2014), p. 26.
In 2005, a short-term study of Canadian emergency services employees found that ‘higher levels of frequency in cultural leisure significantly predicted greater physical health’. Cultural leisure was taken to embrace concerts, ballet, theatre and museums, and thought to be a palliative means of coping with stress. Drawing upon this research, Bygren’s US collaboration delved further into the possible molecular biological explanations for stress and its relationship to diseases including cancer. This lingered upon the oxidation of DNA to form 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG) – a biomarker for cancer – which is caused by stress, particularly in women. More recently (broadly defined) creative activity undertaken outside of work has been found to hasten recovery from work strain and enhance work-related performance.
Yoshitaka Iwasaki, Roger C. Mannell, Bryan J.A. Smale and Janice Butcher, ‘Contributions of Leisure Participation in Predicting Stress Coping and Health among Police and Emergency Response Services Workers’, Journal of Health Psychology, Vol 10, No. 1, 2005, p. 94.
Wilkinson et al, 2007, op cit.
Masahiro Irie, Shinya Asami, Shoji Nagata, Masato Ikeda, Masakazu Miyata and Hiroshi Kasai, ‘Psychosocial Factors as a Potential Trigger of Oxidative DNA Damage in Human Leukocytes’, Japanese Journal of Cancer Research, 92, March 2001, pp. 367–376; Masahiro Irie, Shinya Asami, Shoji Nagata, Masato Ikeda, Masakazu Miyata and Hiroshi Kasai, ‘Psychosocial Mediation of a Type of Oxidative DNA Damage, 8-Hydroxydeoxyguanosine, in Peripheral Blood Leucocytes of Non-Smoking and Non-Drinking Workers’, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 71, 2002, pp. 90–6.
Kevin J.Eschleman, Jamie Madsen, Gene Alarcon and Alex Barelka, ‘Benefiting from creative activity: The positive relationships
between creative activity, recovery experiences, and performance-related outcomes’, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, early view online, 14 April 2014.
In several of the longitudinal studies conducted by Bygren et al, space has been dedicated to psycho-neuroimmunology, taking account of the innervation of lymphoid organs and release of neurotransmitters precipitated by engagement with nonverbal art forms including music and visual art. This is complemented by research into the beneficial effects of music upon human immunity. In specific relation to visual art, it has been observed that ‘works of art arouse effects which were not observed after a comparable amount of conversation about daily events’.
María J.Núñez, Paula Mañá, David Liñares, María P. Riveiro, José Balboa, Juan Suárez-Quintanilla, Mónica Maracchi, Manuel Rey Méndez, José M. López and Manuel Freire-Garabal, ‘Music, immunity and cancer’, Life Sciences, 71, 2002, p. 1047.
Britt-Mai Wikström, Töres Theorell, S. Sandström, ‘Medical Health and Emotional Effects of Art Stimulation in Old Age: A Controlled Intervention Study concerning the Effects of Visual Stimulation Provided in the Form of Pictures’, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Vol. 60, Nos. 3-4, 1993, p. 202.