Creative Lives is working with Essex County Council to learn more about creative health activity across the county

From April 2024, Creative Lives will be exploring the creative health sector in Essex. Working with the Culture team and Wellbeing & Public Health Team at Essex County Council, plus a range of culture and health strategic partners, we will conduct focus groups, interviews, and an online survey. This work will help us to map current activity, and learn about barriers and solutions to delivering creative interventions to support health outcomes in Essex.

Throughout the project, we will be working to:

• Map the current activity
• Identify workforce needs
• Highlight good practice
• Build strategic alliances

We are using the National Centre for Creative Health definition of 'creative health': creative approaches and activities which have benefits for our health and wellbeing. Activities can include visual and performing arts, crafts, film, literature, cooking, and creative activities in nature (such as gardening). Approaches may involve creative and innovative ways to deliver health and care services, co-production, education, and workforce development. Creative health can be applied in homes, communities, cultural institutions and heritage sites, and healthcare settings; and can contribute to the prevention of ill health, promotion of healthy behaviours, management of long term conditions, and treatment and recovery.

For more information, please contact Jess Plant on [email protected].