One hour at a museum each month could improve public health

A survey of 2,000 UK adults found that 89% fail to meet a proposed target of at least 60 minutes with art in museums and galleries each month. That gap equals an estimated 49.5 million people.

Art Fund, the charity, commissioned the research with University College London professor Daisy Fancourt, whose report argues that one hour with art each month could significantly improve physical and mental health. The report recommends at least 60 minutes of museum or gallery engagement each month and calls for cultural participation to become as routine as exercise and healthy eating.

The report, The Recommended Dose of Art: A Prescription for Health and Wellbeing, draws together scientific evidence that regular cultural engagement can reduce stress, improve cognitive health and potentially extend life expectancy.

Previous studies cited in the report found that regular museum and gallery visits could nearly halve the risk of developing depression over the following decade. Other studies have linked cultural participation with reduced dementia risk and lower levels of loneliness. The report links viewing original artworks in galleries with a 22% greater reduction in the stress hormone cortisol than viewing reproductions.

What would it take to make monthly visits routine?

For public health, the proposed answer is one hour of engagement each month. Fancourt argues that regular engagement with art should be considered a health-promoting behaviour alongside exercise, a balanced diet and spending time outdoors. Her book, Art Cure, on the scientific benefits of art came out earlier this year.

Fancourt said in a statement: “Guidelines like eating our 5-a-day of fruit and vegetables and getting our 10,000 steps have proven effective in helping us to prioritise other health-promoting behaviours in our busy lives. Adding regular arts engagement to this list could be a simple and joyful way of investing further in our health and wellbeing.”

For museums, Jenny Waldman, Art Fund's director, told The Art Newspaper that the research strengthens the case for sustained public investment, including free admission at national institutions and support for local and regional collections.

Waldman said: “We want to see sustained, long-term public investment across the museum sector, so that all museums have the resources to care for their collections and welcome the widest possible audiences.”

She acknowledged that removing admission charges alone cannot overcome barriers such as accessibility and the resources available to institutions. Art Fund's research among museum directors found that 36% of museums had reduced their opening hours because of insufficient funding and staffing. Waldman said museums must receive the means to play a greater role in supporting public health.

Arts prescribing and national policy

Waldman pointed to Greece, which has introduced arts prescribing into its national healthcare system, as an international example. She also noted growing recognition of cultural organisations as public health assets.

At home, Waldman cited a report recently published by Scotland's Chief Medical Officer, Sir Gregor Smith, which recognised arts organisations as important public health assets and called for arts and culture to be embedded more widely in Scotland's approach to public health.

The report gives cultural participation a measurable public-health rationale. The next test is whether sustained public investment can protect access, collections and opening hours long enough for a monthly recommendation to reach the 49.5 million adults who miss the proposed target.