Arts Engagement: A public health lifeline

Arts engagement is not a luxury. It is a lifeline.  Health Arts Scotland 2026 takes place this week and, in this blog, Dr Shahnoor Minhas Amin, Public Health Registrar at Public Health Scotland (PHS), explains the powerful link between the arts and health, and why it’s a critical tool for tackling health inequalities. 

Events are taking place in locations across the country this week to celebrate how the arts can improve health and wellbeing, with the aim of embedding the arts into public health and community well-being. 

The Healing Arts 2026 initiative represents a massive collaborative effort, uniting around 15 organisations across the arts and health sectors, including PHS.    

As a PHS representative, I share the reasons why this intersection of arts and health is so valuable in helping to drive "joined-up messages" across the sector. 

I recently attended an Arts & Health Parliamentary Roundtable in Westminster, where policymakers, clinicians and artists shared a clear consensus: our healthcare system must move beyond a reactive “repair shop” model toward prevention rooted in communities. Investing in the arts is central to that shift. 

We readily accept the lifelong benefits of physical activity, but this was not always the case. We are at a similar moment of change for the arts where the evidence is strong, but policy has not caught up. Crucially, the issue is not public awareness. Nearly 90% of people already recognise that cultural participation, whether in music, dance, literature, visual arts or other creative pursuits, supports wellbeing. The gap lies in translating evidence into action. All too often, great grassroot initiatives cease to continue due to funding constraints. 

Arts engagement improves health 

There is compelling evidence of the impact engaging in arts has on health.  Regular arts engagement, whether it’s attending a concert by a favourite band or reading the monthly book club choice, reduces the risk of chronic pain. It is associated with slower biological ageing, improved cardiovascular health, lower blood pressure, and reduced inflammation. It also helps to delay the onset of conditions like dementia. 

Importantly, these benefits are not explained by socioeconomic advantage. Large-scale studies account for income, education, and lifestyle factors and still find that arts engagement independently improves health outcomes. This matters, because it challenges a persistent misconception: that the arts are only beneficial because they are accessed by those who are already privileged. In reality, the issue is not who benefits, it is who has access. 

Cultural inequality is a public health inequality 

Across the UK, access to the arts remains deeply unequal. Yet if we accept the arts as a social determinant of health, inequitable access becomes a public health failure. We cannot reduce health inequalities without addressing cultural inequalities. 

The power of community arts 

Arts-based approaches to improving health can reach communities that traditional healthcare systems often fail to engage, particularly those facing structural barriers, including racialised and economically disadvantaged groups. When embedded locally, arts programmes create trusted, inclusive spaces where people feel seen, heard, and connected.  

The broader lesson is this: while medicine excels at treating disease, it cannot prescribe meaning, belonging, or social connection. The arts can. 

Prioritising arts 

Despite this, access to the arts, a UN recognised human right, is still not routinely monitored or prioritised. If we are serious about prevention and equity, this must change. 

My call to action is clear: we must stop treating the arts as a “nice-to-have” and recognise them as essential health infrastructure. This means embedding arts and cultural engagement into health and care pathways, and critically, ensuring that access is equitable. This is something that our Chief Executive, Paul Johnston will emphasis in his keynote speech at Healing Arts Scotland’s national conference later this week. 

Because if the arts improve health regardless of background, then unequal access will continue to widen inequalities. 

If we want a healthier, fairer society, we must make the arts available to everyone not just as enrichment, but as prevention. 

Further information 

Find out more about Healing Arts Scotland, led by the Jameel Arts and Health Lab in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) Europe. 

Find out about Healing Arts Scotland’s national online conference.