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Exercise on prescription is common, but many primary care trusts are only just becoming aware of the potential of offering parallel access to other activities. Here Terry Rigby describes the arts on prescription programme that has been running in Stockport for nine years. He highlights the benefits of co‐working between artists and mental health workers, pinpoints issues relating to image and marketing and urges us to consider how we can support people to continue moving forward in their lives.

The purpose of this paper is to review and compare the implementation of “arts inclusion” policies (AIPs) by 14 different public administrative systems around the world. It aims to provide a consolidated source which informs further studies in this field, and to develop a framework to compare AIPs at a global level.

Using “arts inclusion policy” as the search term, academic journals from a wide spectrum of fields were reviewed. A data set was extracted from the Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends’ online database which provided real-time information of national cultural policies. Another data set is from the United Nations’ Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, as the geographic scope of the review – largely focussing on UK, US, Australian, Scandinavian and Asian contexts. Using existing policy-making literature as benchmark, the authors designed and applied a comparative framework dedicated to AIPs which focussed on “policy-making structures” as the main ground of comparison.

An important finding is that the policy development and implementation of AIPs often underscore inter-sectoral involvement in many public administrations in this study. With policy leadership and financial incentives pivotal to effective AIPs, central governments should take a more concerted leadership role to include AIPs in national inter-sectoral policies, encourage evidence-based research, expand funding and advocate the recognition of the impacts of arts inclusion. It is concluded that AIPs in western countries remain more developed in targeted scopes and programme diversity compared to those of Asian countries and regions. Continued studies in this field are encouraged.

This review is the first of its kind to include a number of Asian and western countries within its research scope, allowing it to offer a more holistic outlook on the development and implementation of AIPs in different countries and regions. A common critique with all relevant existing literature was usually their lack of concrete comparative grounds, and the present study’s all-encompassing review of literature from across different levels and sectors of respective public administrative systems contribute to a unique and comprehensive perspective in the arts and health discourse.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the benefits of a social prescribing service for older people with sensory impairments experiencing social isolation. The paper draws on the findings from a 12-week programme run by Sense, a voluntary sector organisation, and illustrates how integrated services, combining arts-based participation and voluntary sector support, can create positive health and wellbeing outcomes for older people.

The research took a mixed-methodological approach, conducting and analysing data from interviews and dynamic observation proformas with facilitators and quantitative psychological wellbeing scores with participants throughout the course of the programme. Observations and case study data were also collected to complement and contextualise the data sets.

The research found that participatory arts programmes can help combat social isolation amongst older people with sensory impairments and can offer an important alliance for social care providers who are required to reach more people under increasing pecuniary pressures. The research also highlights other benefits for health and wellbeing in the group including increased self-confidence, new friendships, increased mental wellbeing and reduced social isolation.

The research was based on a sample size of 12 people with sensory impairments and therefore may lack generalisability. However, similar outcomes for people engaging in participatory arts through social prescription are documented elsewhere in the literature.

The paper includes implications for existing health and social care services and argues that delivering more integrated services that combine health and social care pathways with arts provision have the potential to create social and medical health benefits without being care/support resource heavy.

This paper fulfils a need to understand and develop services that are beneficial to older people who become sensory impaired in later life. This cohort is growing and, at present, there are very few services for this community at high risk of social isolation.

The arts and health agenda has experienced considerable expansion in the UK in recent years, against a backdrop of increasing social inequality and rising incidence of mental health problems. This paper explores the role of community arts in combating social and mental health inequalities as exemplified by one particular project, Art in Mind, in Nottingham, which is funded by England's New Deal for Communities programme and is designed to promote mental health. In describing Art in Mind's conceptualisation and implementation, attention is given to the importance of developing community networks that are designed to build social capital for participating groups and individuals, in order to combat health and social inequalities.

Based in a deprived inner city area in Nottingham, Art in Mind aims to improve individual health and well‐being and to raise mental health awareness by encouraging self‐expression through the arts and participation in community activities. Theo Stickley, Willow Merryweather and Paul Leighton describe the power of the arts to change minds and lives.

This paper describes the qualitative evaluation of Imagine East Greenwich (IEG), a series of arts/health projects developed as part of a regeneration programme on two housing estates in a London borough. The evaluation seeks to identify (through consultation with various stakeholders) indicators for measuring the impact of arts/health on communities, and to itemise some of the key factors that appeared to influence the success of IEG's arts/health projects. The paper reflects on some of the challenges that attend arts/health evaluations and, in so doing, contributes to ongoing debates about the role and value of the arts, notably in deprived and fragmented communities.

This article considers how participatory arts programmes within mental health services can contribute to the challenging agenda of improving both individuals' well‐being and helping a community to flourish. Health services and other statutory bodies supporting this work, however, need to understand the potential of the arts to be a transformational force and not just an instrumental tool for therapeutic diversion. Patient demand for creative activity as an integral part of care plans can help this pioneering field of arts practice to develop influentially within mainstream services, however, we need to think beyond an individual therapy model to one of social integration in which everyone can feel ‘at home’.

Evidence shows that participating in arts activities can increase wellbeing. The purpose of this paper is to explore connections between aesthetic engagement and the wellbeing of participants on a ten weeks Arts on Prescription programme (AoP).

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven participants (with mild to moderate depression, stress or anxiety). A thematic analysis was used to identify themes in the data.

The findings illustrate that the participants in the AoP programme showed increased levels of motivation, and it opened up new worlds for connection with sensory experiences such as: relief, joy and peace of mind. The themes identified were: engagement and pleasure, deep emotional experiences and expanding worlds.

Aesthetic engagement through an AoP programme has the potential to stimulate the senses, motivate personal involvement and connect individuals with parts of themselves that has been neglected through illness. The participants experienced new possibilities through aesthetic engagement; offering connections to sensory, cognitive and emotional tools that can boost wellbeing. In this way, facilitated programmes such as AoP can contribute positively to public health. However, further studies are necessary in order to explore and establish the complex connections between aesthetic engagement and wellbeing.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss integrated working between the arts and those in care settings. Identifying that the field is very broad, with diverse evidence and experience within it, the paper argues that there is a need to find ways in which to be clearer about the purpose of specific arts and care integrated projects. The paper draws on a case study project to develop some insights and a framework to help address this challenge.

The paper is a conceptual discussion and development drawing upon insights from relevant literature and a case study analysis of an integration project between a hospice service, an art gallery and an artist.

The integrated working case study project between the hospice, art gallery and artist highlights some points about a lack of conceptual frameworks to help locate the purpose of diverse arts and care projects. There is scope for much confusion about the nature and purpose of such integration projects without a clear framework for articulating the aims of individual integration endeavours and their place in relation to other arts and care work. This paper develops a framework and a clear understanding about the different kinds and goals of integrated working between arts and care settings to help with future practical and research projects.

The paper reports a case study which highlights key themes from which generalisation to other services will require interpretation for particular contexts.

The ideas present a helpful approach to articulating the goals of individual projects and to better understand the place of projects in relation to other arts and care initiatives.

There is much scope for better integrated working between arts and care settings to achieve better outcomes for users of care services, and the ideas presented here should help to better organise and evaluate such developments.

This is the first paper to set out the framework presented to help with better integrated working between arts and care settings.