On the 10th- 13th October, 2024, I was part of the world’s first ever international arts prescribing in Health Care conference held in Thessaloniki, Greece.
The aim of this conference was to “bring together for the first time health professionals, health care policy makers, and representatives from the art world, artists and arts management, in an attempt to: profile existing practices of successful arts prescribing in healthcare; present evidence on the impact of arts prescribing on specific health issues and medical conditions and discuss guidelines on arts prescribing implementation within Europe”.
The speaker list reads like a line up of the cool kids of social prescribing, with key notes from Daisy Fancourt and Charlotte Osborn-Forde, and research presented from all other the world by researchers, artists and therapists. The conference itself also provided delegates with the opportunity to immerse themselves in Greek culture with the locations and additional workshops providing opportunity to learn, connect, and participate in the arts.
I was lucky to be presenting my research on the final day, so I had the opportunity to listen and learn over the first two days. The first thing I learned was that all conferences should be organised by this group of conference convenors. Our host, Efharis Panagopoulou,and the wider group of PhD students, friends and partners, made sure that all delegates felt personally welcomed and supported during our stay, and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment at the conference and in Thessaloniki.
The event kicked off in the evening, at Thessaloniki’s famous ‘Villa’, Casa Bianca, known for its love story that spans religious differences, which is now the Municipal Art Gallery. We were welcomed into the home with a live performance from ‘Aline’ and ‘Spyros’ about their love story that caused scandal in early 1900’s, surrounded by beautiful artwork of local artists, and the story shared historical facts, song and music. Efharis then opened the conference with a welcome address including a challenge to candidates to consider how our research could enable Greece to build on its plans for arts prescribing to be formally offered within its national medical prescribing system from 2025. More food at a local restaurant enabled delegates to get to know more about each other, and I had the pleasure of learning more about colleagues from America, Greece and the UK.
The second day was hosted in the Archaeological museum, surrounded by Greece and Roman artefacts, our key note was from Daisy, who laid the foundation of the current evidence base for social prescribing, with recent research showing clear evidence of the impact on improving health, and the return of value ( £3 for every £1 ). She also highlighted some of the challenges with the approach in the UK, primarily that although link workers have been funded, with every GP having access to this role, the cultural activities that someone may be referred to are not receiving any additional funds.
The jam-packed itinerary then followed with inspiring sessions such as the session from Aly Maier Lokuta, Senior Director of New Jersey Performing Arts Center, who outlined successful working with a health insurance provider to fund arts on prescription to the community; research evidence from Hilary Bungay around participatory arts and older people reducing loneliness and social isolation in the UK.
To keep us all awake and active we had a walking tour around Thessaloniki where we learned so much about the history of the city, including the links to Alexander the Great, the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods up to more recent times. It was also an opportunity to see the many cats of Thessaloniki.
The afternoon brought us to experience a dance movement session facilitated by Thania Acaron, The Director of The Body Hotel, an organisation set up to offer movement based practice into workplace wellness, and is currently being offered to NHS nurses in Wales. This was an extremely powerful session, with many of us having strong emotional experiences of connection and understanding with participants, and a greater sense of how a movement based intervention is effective.
The session ended with a surprise guest, ‘Archaeostoryteller’ Ted Papakostas, a local social media star, author and archaeologist sharing with us his journey of bringing history and archaeology to the general public.
Day two was hosted in the Tellogleio Institute of Arts, where Charlotte Osborn-Forde set out the history of social prescribing from a concept to that of mainstream healthcare, and the potential for further improvements and impact with increased research evidence, and collaborative approaches across health and communities.
The morning sessions brought more focus on research relating to dance and music on health, and then my turn quickly came. My session focused on sharing findings from work with stakeholders across my research around how to increase father’s access to preventative health interventions that use creativity.
In earlier sessions many presentations had noted a gender imbalance within some research findings and participation in arts prescribing, with men underrepresented across the board. I was keen to highlight that although my research focused on dads, the findings may be useful for increasing male participation as well.
I was delighted with a positive response to my findings, and active engagement with the participants with numerous questions about my wider research, with lots of chat in the break about potential research collaborations and learning people would take away for their own interventions.
We then all had an exciting session learning dance composition facilitated by Simone Kleinlooh who is currently researching the use of dance movement therapy with clients with a personality disorder. The session gave us a taster of being a teacher, student, and finally performer.
Sessions that were particularly moving for me on this day were that given by Ginny Lewis and Laki Vazakas from Boston Childrens hospital, of their deeply impactful work with bereaved families, and the use of music therapy within perinatal mental health, outlined by Pui Sze Cheung and Mas Mohamad from University Maternity Hospital Limerick, where we listened to beautiful compositions co-produced to help women manage feelings relating to birth trauma and mental ill health.
The conference ended with a bang, with a live performance of traditional and modern Glenti dancing, with many delegates participating heartily, before a celebratory buffet outside overlooking a stunning sunset across the City.
I was grateful to learn so much about arts on prescription and the model of social prescribing and to hear examples of arts therapists providing these interventions in collaboration with artists, as artists, and as researchers. I felt that there is so much more opportunity for Art Therapy to be seen as part of a pathway aligned to arts social prescribing and would be keen to work with people in the UK to consider how such pathways could be formed. The role of art therapy in public mental health is yet to be fully researched, with many art therapists being located in the community, in museums, and in roles adjunct to the arts in health.
Thanks goes to the NIHR ARC NENC and Cumbria University for funding my attendance at this conference, and to the organisers, Peggy, Vassiliki, Irene and Efharis.
References:
coming soon 🙂