Scoping
Core Expertise
Experience: Understanding Creative Health in London
At the end of 2023, the Culture, Creative Industries and 24-hour London Unit at the Greater London Authority invited Rebecca and London Arts and Health to explore the evolution, scale, character and maturity of the creative health sector in the capital. This research formed the basis of a report, written by Rebecca, called Understanding Creative Health in London: The Scale, Character and Maturity of the Sector, which was launched by the Mayor of London on 24 September 2024. You can read more about the research here and find the full report here.
In order to produce this report, Rebecca and her collaborators undertook extensive scoping of the history and current realities of the sector, using a combination of desk-based research and interviews with 50 experts. Rebecca traced the birth of London’s creative health to the 1730s and charted the sector’s evolution in the 20th century. The main locations in which creative health activities are happening were found to be: health and care settings; community arts organisations; cultural and heritage venues; and educational settings. The artist Rae Goddard illustrated and animated timelines showing pivotal moments in each of these locations alongside national developments. The report provides a detailed consideration of present-day activity, amplifying the views of the creative health workforce.
Understanding Creative Health in London concludes with a series of reflections and four recommendations to the sector as a whole:
- Advocate for continued support
- Bridge the gap between health and the arts
- Help support efforts to diversify the sector
- Provide more support to practitioners
Experience: Creative Ageing
In crafting an overview of the field, Rebecca consulted literature published by the foundation and arts and older people’s organisations and policy documents produced in the four nations of the UK. She also conducted semi-structured interviews with 26 leaders in the field, toured the country visiting exemplary organisations and oversaw a call for programme details. Rebecca found a rich seam of participatory activity in the community alongside a growing number of artists developing, discovering or returning to their practice in older age. She examined the barriers that prevented older people from becoming involved in creative and cultural activities and the ways in which these were being overcome. She gave consideration to the progress that had been made and work yet to be done. Her findings were published as a 100-page report, culminating in an extensive list of creative ageing programmes in the UK.
To find out more, or to commission scoping work, please contact scoping[at]rebeccagordon-nesbitt.org