5.2
Arts and health
Keywords
Reading and health, bibliotherapy, literature and
medicine, reading and mental health, reading therapy,
health impacts assessment
Expertise
The University of Liverpool has built up unique expertise
related to the health benefits of reading. Researchers in
literature, health, linguistics, psychology, social anthro-
pology and digital technologies collaborate on projects
which take reading practices into communities and
healthcare professions.
Working with the The Reader Organisation national
charity , our experts provide research evidence to
demonstrate the value of community reading groups
informing healthcare policy and encourage the medical
profession to explore treatments that can be tailored to
individual patients.
The University’s Centre for Research into Reading,
Information and Linguistic Systems leads on a range
of research projects that relate specifically to reading and
mental health. These projects target the problems of
depression and dementia and examine the value of
shared reading, especially in hard-to-reach communities
like prisons and for people with learning difficulties.
Adult mental health organisations can use our research
as the basis for commissioning reading groups in
inpatient, community and secure settings as a humane
and inexpensive alternative to more costly treatments
for depression and dementia. We provide training and
advice on how reading can decrease symptoms and
improve the wellbeing of depression sufferers and
enhance attention, concentration, social interaction
and short-term and long-term memory in older people
living with dementia. Children’s health, social and
educational services can consult and collaborate with
the Centre on the potential of shared reading to influence
language development and child-parent attachment in
early years, to foster social integration of bilingual children
and families and to improve educational performance
and social mobility.
Our researchers have substantial expertise in
developing assessment methodologies and frame-
works which can be used to analyse the quantitative
and qualitative effects of health interventions –
from medical therapeutics to awareness campaigns –
on individuals and wider communities.
The Culture and Creativity Research Network
supports public events and acts as a research hub
for work on health and wellbeing. Projects currently
include: the therapeutic value of green spaces;
therapeutic and emotional value of music; urban
spaces and the sense of place; design and
architecture for therapeutic environments; the
influence of new technologies on wellbeing
(
including innovations in synthetic biology) and
a network embedding scholars and practitioners
interested in the phenomenology and psychology
of living with dying.
These projects result from exciting partnerships
between the University, medical professionals,
clinical practitioners, cultural institutions and the
general public. They are designed to complement
existing medical and scientific practice and to
enhance health and wellbeing of individuals and
communities.
We are currently conducting a systematic review
to analyse the health benefits of arts initiatives.
Researchers from the Liverpool Health Inequalities
Research Institute, in partnership with Liverpool
PCT and the Liverpool Research and Implement-
ation Group, are collecting data on the outcomes
from numerous participatory arts programmes
from across Merseyside. They will then conduct an
evidence synthesis of the impact and effectiveness
of these initiatives.
Relevant centres and groups
•
Centre for Research into Reading, Information
and Linguistic Systems
•
Liverpool Health Inequalities Research Institute
•
The Reader Organisation
•
Centre for Architecture and the Visual Arts
•
Culture and Creativity Network
•
Institute of Cultural Capital.
It is vital to ensure that reading
is taken seriously and actually
becomes a consistent part of
health and wellbeing. We want
reading to go out from the
University, into the needs of the
world, then back to us again for
evaluation, before out again to
change public policy.
Society & Culture
173
APPLICATION AREAS
•
Built environment
•
Civil engineering
•
Energy
•
Food supply
•
Sustainability
•
Transport and infrastructure
Also see:
Health & Wellbeing –
1.3
Health economics, page 14
1.4
Personal development and
health, page 15
6.2
Personalised medicine, page 37
7.2
Evidence synthesis, page 42
