Most regions and cities in the UK invest in arts and well-being strategic priorities, and professionals need to drive these developments forward for the well-being of all our citizens. This is echoed nowhere more powerfully than in the Arts Council of England's most recent strategic initiative - Arts, Culture and Wellbeing – which describes how 'making and experiencing arts and culture transforms quality of life for individuals and communities.' Liverpool City Council and the Merseyside Region take the idea of Arts and well-being very seriously, with significant investment in initiatives such as Routes to Wellbeing and Connecting our Communities.
The recognized areas of benefit for arts and wellbeing initiatives are significant in breadth, ranging from mental health, trauma, special educational needs, addiction, and dementia, and ideas linked to more generalized civic well-being.
Such initiatives have been accompanied by significant growth in employment opportunities, ranging from specialist art/music/movement therapists to senior appointments in national, regional, and local government, health, and educational organizations.
This course will provide you with the knowledge and understanding of the practices and histories of arts and wellbeing interventions and equip you with the knowledge and necessary experience of the role and function of creativity for wellbeing.
It will equip you with the necessary skills for project management of arts and wellbeing interventions and the processes by which they can be created, realized, managed, distributed, and documented to benefit many sectors of society – the elderly, the disabled, children in poverty; people in recovery from substance abuse and so on.
This course will also provide students with the relevant digital and technical skills needed to develop sophisticated approaches to arts and well-being interventions.