MHQT: Should culture be prescribed on the NHS?

There’s been a lot of recent interest in how the arts and sport might help people with their mental health. But is there enough evidence to justify the NHS paying for this? And what would this evidence look like, anyway? Join our expert panel to discuss how culture might complement and enhance mental health care, and what it would take to convince the NHS to fund it.

The panel will be chaired by Daisy Fancourt. Daisy is an Associate Professor of Psychobiology and Epidemiology and a Wellcome Research Fellow. Her research focuses on the effects of social and cultrual community participation on health.

Panelist include:

Rosie Perkins is a Research Fellow in Performance Science at the Royal College of Music. Her research focuses on arts and health as well as performers' career development.

Laura Fischer is a researcher, artist and mental health activist. Throughout her career she has focused on developing novel interventions to respond to violence, abuse, and neglect.

David O'Flyn is a consultant psychiatrist in South London and the chair of the Adamson Collection, which is one of the major collections of art made by people who lived in European mental asylums.

Niall Boyce is a psychiatrist and the Editor of the Lancet Psychiatry. He has a keen interest in social and transcultural aspects of mental health.

Lorna Collins is an artist, educator and Time to Change Hub Coordinator, Arts in Health Researcher, and soon-to-be Peer Support Worker.