The arts: can creativity help mental health? | Wellcome

This episode of our podcast, ‘When Science Finds a Way’, explores how creativity might play a role in supporting mental health. Host Alisha Wainwright speaks with Professor Daisy Fancourt, whose research investigates the potential benefits of creative activities for wellbeing. We also hear from Vanessa, a mother in the UK who took part in a singing trial for postpartum depression, and Kunle Adewale in Nigeria, who shares how the arts became an important part of his own healing journey and the work he now does with others. This episode features Breathe Melodies for Mums, a programme by Breathe Arts Health Research. Learn more at www.breatheahr.org/programmes/melodies-for-mums Video footage of the Melodies sessions was kindly provided by Breathe Arts Health Research.  01:00 – Guest introduction: Professor Daisy Fancourt 02:29 – The active ingredients of the arts in health 05:07 – Biological pathways: how the arts affect the body 07:22 – First hand experience with the arts for mental health 11:16 – What the research shows between arts engagement and mental health 13:36 – The biological mechanisms and their importance 15:02 – Impacts of arts engagement on the body 16:20 – Impact of ‘Breathe Melodies for Mums’ on postpartum depression 17:34 – Testimonies from 'Breathe Melodies for Mums' 21:44 – What is the SHAPER program? 23:12 – Testimony from the SHAPER trial 25:32 – Building lived experience into the programmes 26:26 – Outcomes from the SHAPER trial 28:56 – Cost effectiveness of breathe melodies for mums 30:38 – Arts engagement across cultures 35:21 – Collaboration of research with WHO, wider impacts and future implications 🔔 Subscribe to Wellcome on YouTube: https://wellc.me/3Blh0c1 💬 SOCIAL MEDIA: Connect with us on LinkedIn:   / wellcome-trust   Follow us on Instagram:   / wellcometrust   Follow us on X: https://x.com/WellcomeTrust Follow us on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wellcometrus... Find us on Facebook:   / wellcometrust   🔗 MORE FROM WELLCOME: Wellcome is a global charitable foundation. We want everyone to benefit from science’s potential to improve health and save lives. Read our latest stories, opinions and reports: https://wellcome.org/news-and-reports Learn more about our work: https://wellcome.org/what-we-do Find our latest funding opportunities: https://wellcome.org/grant-funding