MISA Annual Public Lecture: Insights into Arts, Flourishing, and Healthy Ageing
Posted on 30 September 2024
On 23rd September 2024, Mercer's Institute for Successful Ageing (MISA) hosted its Annual Public Lecture at St James's Hospital, Dublin, in collaboration with Creative Ireland. Moderated by Regius Professor Rose Anne Kenny, Principal Investigator of TILDA and Director of MISA, the event was a major moment of reflection on the intersection between arts and health, exploring how the creative arts contribute to healthy ageing and overallwell-being.
The guest speaker, Professor Daisy Fancourt, Professor of Psychobiology & Epidemiology at University College London and Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Arts and Health, delivered an enlightening lecture titled “The Impact of the Arts on Public Health: Insights from clinical trials, epidemiology, and laboratory studies”. Professor Fancourt’s research dispelled the misconception of the arts as merely a ‘soft’ science. Her findings underscored the tangible benefits of arts engagement in both the treatment and prevention of health conditions, as well as in promoting positive health behaviours. TILDA’s 2021 report, "Creative Activity in the Ageing Population," also demonstrated that engagement in creative activities helps reduce depression and feelings of loneliness, while enhancing quality of life among older adults. This report, commissioned by Creative Ireland, highlighted that older adults who actively participate in creative pursuits report lower levels of loneliness, depression, worry, and stress compared to non-participants.
Key insights from Professor Fancourt’s lecture included the role of singing groups in facilitating faster recovery for mothers experiencing perinatal mental health challenges, with improvements that were sustained over time. Monthly participation in arts activities was associated with a 48% reduction in depression risk. Music and dance were shown to help prevent cognitive decline in older adults, with dance, in particular, improving gait and balance in Parkinson’s patients. These findings echo TILDA’s evidence from the 2023 "Creative Activity in the Ageing Population: Findings from Wave 6 of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing" report, which confirmed that older adults participating in creative, arts, and cultural activities experience better physical and mental health outcomes. According to TILDA’s findings, participation in arts and cultural activities is associated with a lower risk of depression, worry, and loneliness, contributing to a higher overall quality of life. In addtion, Professor Fancourt present evidence that music interventions in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) were found to improve vital signs such as heart rates and breathing in newborns, while music during surgeries helped reduce blood pressure, enhanced recovery outcomes, and lowered the need for medications. Regular engagement in music was also linked to slower physical decline and healthier ageing overall.
A central message from the lecture was the power of arts in public health communication. Professor Fancourt emphasised that health messages delivered through storytelling, particularly when supported by clinical expertise, resonate more deeply with the public. Moreover, arts engagement was shown to serve as a “back door” to engaging with people with Alzheimer’s disease, improving their quality of life. However, she also raised concerns about inequality of access to the arts across societal groups, calling for better embedding of arts programmes within communities to ensure broader accessibility.
For TILDA, a key highlight was the alignment between the two WHO Collaborating Centres—TILDA, focused on longitudinal studies of ageing, and Professor Fancourt’s centre on arts and health. Both centres are committed to advancing well-being across the life course, with TILDA’s rich data on older adults complementing Professor Fancourt’s research on the biopsychosocial impacts of the arts.
Professor Linda Doyle, Provost of Trinity College Dublin, also attended the lecture and contributed valuable insights during the panel discussion. Addressing systemic issues faced by artists, she noted, “There is a deeply systematic problem in that artists are simply not paid enough… if you want to change a system, and you have a group of people who earn a lot and a group who earn a little, the things that the people who earn a little do will always be less respected.” She emphasised that, while equal pay is not the goal, the disparity in compensation affects how seriously society values the arts compared to fields like engineering. Doyle argued for more sustainable funding structures, beyond the Arts Council’s support, to ensure fair compensation for artists.
Watch the full lecture and panel discussion below to explore more on the intersection of arts, health, and the challenges surrounding equitable support for artists.
TILDA is proud to be closely associated with MISA through Professor Kenny’s leadership, and this event further strengthens the collaboration between the two WHO Collaborating Centres in promoting healthy ageing, flourishing, and community well-being.