Arts have long been reversed for it's benefits on mental health, cognitive health, and overall well-being. If these benefits were not enough to enrich our lives, a new report shows that art therapy can also help tackle non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
The World Health Organisation report suggests the power of art therapy in alleviating the world's disease burden and also recommends methods to incorporate art in modalities of treatment and prevention.
Art Therapy To Manage Non-Communicable Diseases
The report was proposed during WHO's Budapest conference held in December 2022. At the conference, Christopher Bailey, Arts and Health Lead, WHO, shared how writing stories for theatre plays helped him in his fight against cancer and obesity, recover from chemotherapy and, changed his perception of health completely.
“I’ve found that, when I was on stage working with actors, I had this profound sense of well-being. I could walk, I could hold things, I could speak eloquently. It was as if the chemotherapy had disappeared for that period of rehearsal and performance," he expressed at the conference.
He added, "When I got back home and would take off my shoes and my socks, they would be soaked in blood. I couldn’t speak anymore, it was only temporary, but at that moment of performance – I was well.”
Bailey said that the arts are not about cure, rather it is about healing. In his opinion, arts make life more enriching no matter what the circumstances are. Another great benefit of arts therapy is that it is non-invasive and low-risk.
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Dealing With Non Communicable Diseases
In response to the Budapest conference, WHO/Europe is now exploring the potential of arts to help prevent and manage non-communicable diseases, the biggest health threat in the European region. The WHO informed that cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, cancer and other non-communicable diseases account for 90% of all deaths.
“I hope that our report will promote the value of arts and health projects across the whole Region and, most importantly, advance their real-world application, particularly at the policy level,” said Dr Kremlin Wickramasinghe, Regional Adviser for Nutrition, Obesity and Physical Activity, WHO/Europe.
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Concluding their report, WHO showcased how art therapy is now gaining momentum in healthcare systems across the world to create a bridge between culture and health that can enrich the lives of all people, fostering a healthier environment for all.