THE ARTS MATTER!

I have been reading some research in the British Medical Journal. 'The art of life and death: 14 year follow-up analyses of associations between arts engagement and mortality in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing' which looked at impact of the arts on longevity. The study is very clear about the importance of arts engagement... "it could be linked to longevity by alleviating chronic stress and depression, and providing emotional, cognitive, and social coping resources that support biological regulatory systems and behavioural choices. Arts engagement is also known to enhance social capital, which builds individual and collective resources, and to reduce loneliness, which is associated with mortality. Arts engagement can support cognitive reserve, and promotes empathy, social perception, and emotional intelligence, which are all linked to a greater chance of survival. Arts engagement could help to reduce sedentary behaviours, which are well established predictors of cardiovascular health and immune function, and might also reduce risk taking behaviours. Arts engagement is linked to a greater sense of purpose in life, which is itself associated with better immune function and healthier behaviours. Further, creativity and imagination, which are an intrinsic part of artistic engagement, have been linked to increased chance of survival across the evolution of our species. So there is a strong theoretical rationale that underlies the hypothesis that arts engagement could be linked to people’s chance of survival."

This study explored whether arts engagement could help us live longer, happier lives. "We analysed the longitudinal relation between receptive arts engagement and mortality across a 14 year follow-up period in a nationally representative sample of adults aged 50 and older. Results showed a dose-response relation: risk of dying at any point during the follow-up period among people who engaged with cultural activities on an infrequent basis (once or twice a year) was 14% lower than in those with no engagement; for those who engaged on a frequent basis (every few months or more), the risk was 31% lower. The association was independent of all identified confounders, was found across all major causes of death, and was robust to a wide range of sensitivity analyses."