Robust research is needed

EDITOR—Smith raises some important issues about the role of arts in our society and on the relative value we attach to arts and health, as reflected in their budgets.1 Perhaps a move to divert some modest funding from the health budget into the arts might prove more popular if some positive health benefit can be shown. But, despite the experiences of Simon Rattle (and any artist who has engaged with poverty and exclusion), the health benefits of the arts are not immediately obvious.

Although we might agree with Brown on bmj.com that the arts have positive effects in a hospital environment, there is a lack of robust evidence of the arts providing such benefits in other areas. 2 3

The potential health benefits of participating in the arts to individual people and to the community have received widespread attention in recent …