Critical Reflections and Future Perspectives on Research in Arts and Health

The Interuniversity Organisation Arts & Knowledges (Paris Lodron University Salzburg/Mozarteum University Salzburg), in cooperation with Salzburg Institute for Arts in Medicine, and Salzburg Global are pleased to organize this day conference to reflect on recent developments in the field. We wish to raise the profile of arts and health, and arts in medicine across Austria and globally.

Research on the effects of music and arts on health has expanded rapidly over the last two decades. A seminal WHO scoping review (2019) suggests positive health benefits from arts engagement and advocates recommendations for arts for health policies. Subsequent reviews of the field (e.g., CultureForHealth, 2022; Creative Health Review, 2023; Netherlands White Paper, 2024) are equally positive and make further recommendations for policy. There has also been substantial growth in the publication of systematic reviews and even meta-analyses of research on the arts interventions and health. In 2023, the WHO and the Jameel Arts & Health Lab (New York, USA) announced a special Lancet Global Series on the health benefits of the arts (Sajnani et al., 2023) which “will show the scientific basis of the arts' role in health with rigour and help position artists and scientists as necessary partners towards health and wellbeing for all”.

However, recent studies from the Salzburg International Network for the Critical Appraisal of Arts and Health Research, have identified substantial methodological flaws, over-optimistic interpretations, and lack of adherence to good research practices in some of the studies cited in reviews of the field. Therefore, it appears timely to engage in a balanced and constructive discussion concerning the current state of research in arts for health. The presenters and discussants invited to the symposium are leading experts and authors of landmark publications in the field. Therefore, the event is expected to draw wider attention of practitioners and researchers alike, who are interested in high-quality research and state-of-the-art discussions with respect to the future in this growing domain at the intersection of arts, science, and medicine.