The impact of remote arts on prescription: Changes in mood, attention and loneliness during art workshops as mechanisms for wellbeing change

• DOI: 10.18261/njach.5.1.1
• Publication Date: 2023-03-28T06:38:38Z
• Authors: Nicola J. Holt
• Keywords: Medicine (General); Arts in general; art on referral; anxiety; 16. Peace & justice; NX1-820; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; wellbeing; R5-920; flow; loneliness; 0305 other medical science

Aims: To assess the impact of art workshops delivered remotely, during the coronavirus pandemic, on the wellbeing of participants. To measure the impact of participating in arts on prescription workshops on immediate experience, in order to examine whether anxiety reduction, attentional state and social bonding are potential mechanisms for wellbeing change.Methods: The evaluation drew upon previous research tracking mood throughout psychosocial interventions. Participants completed ‘in-the-moment’ questionnaires assessing mood, loneliness and attentional absorption (‘flow’) during each workshop of an arts on prescription programme (that was delivered remotely). Participants also completed measures of global wellbeing and loneliness at the beginning and end of the programme. Results: Multi-level modelling was used to test hypotheses since the data was hierarchical (with 690 in-the-moment reports nested within 60 participants). There was a significant increase in global wellbeing and a reduction in loneliness after participation in the programme. After each art workshop there was a significant increase in: hedonic tone (contentment) and energetic arousal (alertness); and a significant decrease in tense arousal (anxiety) and loneliness. Further, reduction in tense arousal and loneliness, and entering an absorbed attentional state, during art workshops, significantly predicted changes in global wellbeing across the programme.Conclusions: The findings suggest that arts on prescription can be beneficial for wellbeing when delivered remotely. They suggest multiple mechanisms for wellbeing change: affective (reducing anxiety); cognitive (absorbed attention); and social (reducing loneliness), which has implications for intervention delivery. Further, the findings provide a direct link between experiences during art workshops and changes in global wellbeing, strengthening the evidence base for arts on prescription.