1st Edition

Creative Health in Systems The People, Priorities and Challenges Shaping Integration

Edited By Jane Hearst Copyright 2027
296 Pages 15 Color Illustrations
by Routledge

296 Pages 15 Color Illustrations
by Routledge

Creative Health in Systems  offers an accessible yet engaging guide to how arts, creativity and culture can practically integrate into healthcare systems across England, demonstrating not only what is happening across the system today, but how readers can play an active role in shaping the next phase of Creative Health integration.  ... Read more

Introduction by Jane Hearst

Part 1 Stakeholders and Networks

1.       Creative Health Practitioners

Jane Hearst

2.       Social Prescribing

Robert Dean and Sarah Paine

3.       Occupational Therapy

Jemma Channing

4.       Nursing

Marion Lynch

5.       General Practice

Amal Lad

6.       Local Authorities

Rose Farrington and Sarah Lee

7.       NHS Trusts

Helen Billings

8.       Integrated Care Boards

Conni Rosewarne and Flora Faith-Kelly

9.       VCFSE and the Third Sector

Jane Hearst

10.   Creative Health Boards

Chris Dayson, Lucy Robertshaw, Eleanor Lockley, Eleanor Holding, Sarah Clough, Meg Barclay, and Susan Hampshaw

11.   All-Party Parliamentary Group on Creative Health

Alan Howarth, Simon Opher, Alexandra Coulter, and Hannah Waterson

12.   National Centre for Creative Health

Jayne Howard, Hannah Waterson, and Alexandra Coulter

13.   NCCH Creative Health Champions

Alexis Butt and Jane Povey

14.   Culture, Health & Wellbeing Alliance

Rachel Marsden, Victoria Hume and Rachel Howfield Massey

15.   National Arts in Hospitals Network

Laura Waters

16.   Arts Council England

Hollie Smith-Charles

17.   National Portfolio Organisations and Other Large Cultural Institutions

Julienne Mwanza and Kathleen Wright

18.   Cultural Compacts

Susan Jane Clarke, Paul Gossage, and Clare Purcell

19.   Mayoral Authorities Creative Health Network

Laura Bailey

20.   Grassroots Arts Networks

Laura Breakwell

21.   Creative Health Networks

Claire Hickey, Amabel Mortimer, Rachel Howfield Massey, and Sallie Louise Varnam

22.   Research and Policy Partnerships

Jane Hearst

23.   Lived Experience Experts and Community Champions

Danny Sherwood and Pippa Jones

24.   Members of the Public

Jane Hearst

 

Part 2 Strategies

25.   Population Health Management

Laura French

26.   Public Health

Justin Varney-Bennett and Rhys Boyer

27.   Local Health and Cultural Strategies

Jane Povey and Jane Hearst

28.   Mental Health

Ananta Dave and Jane Hearst

29.   Hospital Admissions

Jane Hearst

30.   NHS Staff Wellbeing and Retention

Laura Waters

31.   Children and Young People, Part 1: The Early Years

Bertha Ochieng

32.   Children and Young People, Part 2: Youth Participation

Jenny Goodwin and Jacob Richard Brown

33.   Creative Ageing

Helen Fountain, David Ian Cutler, Farrell Renowden, and Anne Hughes

34.   Creative Health Strategies

Julie McCarthy

 

Part 3 Challenges

35.   The Cost of Short-Termism: Funding, Precarity, and Barriers to Access

Elaine Ryan-McNeill and Simon Baines

36.   Co-Production and Social Inclusion

Elaine Ryan-McNeill and Bethany Ellen Calverley

37.   Systems Governance

Joanne Ryder

38.   Creative Health for All: Confronting the Inequality Within

Thahmina Begum

Part 4 Planning and Evaluation

39.   More Than Metrics: Capturing the True Value of Creative Health

Robert Dean

40.   The Creative Health Partnerships Framework: Combining Primary Research and Open Data to Evaluate Creative Health Interventions

Jay Rowe

41.   Collating NHS Data from Your Creative Health Provision

Hannah Gorf and Felicity Penn

42.   The Need for a Critical Perspective on Arts and Health Research and Reviews

Stephen Clift and Katarzyna Grebosz-Haring

43.   Clumsy Evaluation

Timothy Senior and Karen Gray

 

Part 5 Mapping

44.   Artistic Directories

Jane Hearst

45.   Mind Maps by Specialism

Jane Hearst

46.   Network Narrative Overviews

Jane Hearst

47.   Geographic Maps: Heat Coverage and Visual Logging

Jane Hearst

48.   Personal Data Visualisations

Jane Hearst

49.   Journey Mapping and Value Streams

Jane Hearst

50.   Impact Mapping and Theories of Change

Jane Hearst

51.   Network Analysis

Jane Hearst

52.   Mapping Case Studies

Kelly Donaldson, Elaine Ryan-McNeill, Gail Faragher, and Rachel Marsden

53.   Connecting Creative Health in Systems: The Logic of Social Network Mapping

Jane Hearst

 

 Index

Biography

Jane Hearst is a Doctor of Creative Health. She works across the field to support strategy, policy and network development, media production and knowledge mobilisation, and systems research and training.

'This book is an invaluable reference, planning tool and introduction to an increasingly complex ecology for those working across Creative Health. Grounded in an understanding of the realities faced by artists/facilitators, cultural organisations, public health teams and health systems, it balances empathy with clarity, application and breadth. By bringing together perspectives from across the sector, it offers a genuinely holistic and collaborative way forward.'

Regan McDonaldPublic Health Research Officer, Creative Health Producer, Ikon Gallery and Birmingham City Council

'In this timely book, Hearst and contributing authors remind us that creative health development, delivery and evaluation involves collaborative working rather than silos, and offers helpful strategies and ways for health, arts and those benefiting from creative health interventions to communicate, co-produce and shape the field together.'

Dr Roshni BeeharryWriting for Wellbeing & Personal Development Facilitator, Founder of Storied Selves and Lecturer, Institute of Neurology, University College London 

'This book powerfully demonstrates that the true value of cross-disciplinary collaboration between arts, culture, heritage, and health lies in creating collaborative environments, where diversity of thought, trust-based relationships, and community engagement drive real change. By bridging sectors, we unlock richer evidence, more joined-up intelligence, and smarter resource allocation, all while fostering a new language of partnership.'

David MossLocality Director, One Weston and Woodspring, NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB