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| ART AND MEDICINE |
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| Year : 2022 | Volume
: 23
| Issue : 4 | Page : 246-247 |
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Can an artwork a day keep the doctor away?
Rachel Hajar M.D., F.A.C.C
Sr. Consultant Cardiologist, Director of HH Publications and Executive Coordinator for Research, Director of Non-Invasive Cardiology (1981–2014), Heart Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
| Date of Submission | 11-Oct-2022 |
| Date of Acceptance | 12-Oct-2022 |
| Date of Web Publication | 17-Nov-2022 |
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Rachel Hajar
Heart Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, P. O. Box 3050, Doha
Qatar
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/heartviews.heartviews_93_22
How to cite this article:
Hajar R. Can an artwork a day keep the doctor away?. Heart Views 2022;23:246-7 |
The answer is: It depends.
Attending a large number of similar art events resulted in less happiness while attending a broader range of types of art events, even if less frequently, correlated with more happiness. Korean researchers found that art viewing impacts happiness, but it depends on one's economic status. Those in lower-income brackets found benefits from attending performing arts and movies while wealthier audience members saw happiness benefits from visual arts experiences. These results indicate that the low-income group is more likely to enjoy arts and cultural activities that are more accessible and have lower opportunity costs but do not require high levels of cultural capital.
People are broadly aware that there might be some benefits to art engagement. Art can improve life satisfaction, purpose in life, loneliness, depression, cognitive decline and dementia, chronic pain, frailty, and premature death.
The Pew research center polled 19,000 adults in 17 countries and found the following: 10% of the US respondents found meaning in hobbies and recreation, including going to museums or just having fun. That figure went up to 22% among the British, 19% among the Swedes, and 18% among Australian respondents.
When researchers polled 8500 parents and 300 schools they found that adolescents who participated in extracurricular arts programs tended to fare better than those who did not. Forty-seven percent of parents said their kids had fewer behavioral problems such as less hyperactivity, inattention, and difficulty in peer relationships. Schools reported that students who were engaged in extracurricular arts were less likely to cut class, engage in physical confrontations, steal, vandalize, bully, or disrupt the class.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
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