Kent, in collaboration with other organisations, has launched a project to promote involvement in community creative activities for Hastings residents. Hastings has a rich cultural and creative heritage but relatively poor health outcomes.
Increasing access to creative and cultural community activities will improve health and wellbeing, but people do not always have good access. Public services do not have what they need to promote this access, which includes knowing what creative and cultural activities are available, what they offer and ways of involving members of the public.
The project is part of a national research partnership which has received £2.4 million to build the connections to ensure that people in coastal towns have the best possible access to community cultural and creative resources. Similar work will be taking place in Weston-super-Mare and Blackpool.
Professor Lindsay Forbes, based at Kent’s Centre for Health Services Studies, is leading the South East England arm of the project, with Dr Lucy Selman (University of Bristol) in the South West and Dr Barbara Mezes (University of Liverpool) in the North West. They lead a collaborative team from universities; councils; Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise organisations; and the NHS.
Researchers will promote change by:
- Increasing the visibility of creative and community groups and promoting their shared purpose
- Developing a shared understanding of local inequalities in health and the benefits of creative and community groups for health
- Building ways of working between these groups, the NHS and local government
- Enhancing skills and knowledge for creativity in the community and the organisations serving it
The team plans to develop a ‘how-to’ guide to embedding creativity into coastal communities and local systems, leading to improved health and wellbeing.
The project is funded by UK Research and Innovation under Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Mobilising Community Assets to Tackle Health Inequalities programme, which aims to improve health through access to culture, nature and community.
Professor Forbes said: ‘This is an exciting opportunity to build the framework that will embed creative community activities into the health system. It is important that cultural and creative activities are recognised as a ‘must-do’ for health and wellbeing and that the system promotes access to these.’