UNGA 78 | Reception for the Jameel Arts & Health Lab x Lancet series launch
Synopsis
On the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly, at a reception at Carnegie Hall, the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), is launching a forthcoming research series with The Lancet on the health benefits of the arts.
The Jameel Arts & Health Lab x Lancet series builds upon a recent WHO Health Evidence Network synthesis report which indicated that participating in the arts, whether through general engagement (e.g. visiting a museum, singing in a choir, participating in traditional craft) or targeted care (e.g. dance for Parkinson’s programme, music therapy for pain management, drama therapy to reduce anxiety), can contribute to the prevention of a variety of mental and physical illnesses and support in the treatment or management of a range of acute and chronic conditions that may arise across the life-course. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, where balcony performances and home window exhibits inspired hope and connection, there has also been high profile engagement from major cultural institutions, artists, and media platforms calling attention to the relationship between the arts, culture, and health.
The reception immediately follows the WHO75 Wellbeing Concert at Carnegie Hall, produced by the Jameel Arts & Health Lab in collaboration with the WHO and the Carnegie Hall Weill Music Institute.
Participants
Sir Clive Gillinson
Nisha Sajnani
Christopher Bailey
Organisers
Partners
With representatives from
About the event
Grounded in a novel conceptual framework on the important role of the arts in supporting health with a focus on non-communicable diseases, a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, the ameel Arts & Health Lab x Lancet series will raise awareness about the existing evidence base and offer recommendations to improve global policy guidance on topics such as how to scale up promising interventions through mechanisms like social prescribing and through intersectoral collaboration between the arts, health, education, and social care sector to more fully realize the potential of the arts to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals from reducing social inequalities to increasing health equity and from providing better training for health professionals to improving resilience and coping among informal caregivers.
The Jameel Arts & Health Lab x Lancet series is co-chaired by two founding co-directors of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, Dr Nisha Sajnani, director of the programme in drama therapy and chair of the Creative Arts Therapies Consortium at the New York University (NYU) Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, and Dr Nils Fietje, technical officer in the WHO Regional Office for Europe.
The Jameel Arts & Health Lab was launched in 2023 following the signing of agreements between the WHO Regional Office for Europe, NYU Steinhardt, Community Jameel and CULTURUNNERS. Focused on overlooked and underserved communities, the lab coordinates and amplifies scientific research into the effectiveness of the arts in improving health and wellbeing to drive policy implementation across 193 UN member states. Current projects include research into the effect of group singing with mothers who experience postnatal depression, the role of participatory arts and cultural archives in supporting the coping of survivors of conflict, the impact of general arts engagement and targeted creative arts therapies in dementia care, and the value of visual art in hospitals and care communities.
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