Daisy Fancourt's Art Cure Links Arts to Health, Citing £1.5 Billion Dementia Savings
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · May 20
Daisy Fancourt's Art Cure Links Arts to Health, Citing £1.5 Billion Dementia Savings
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · May 20
Summary
Art Cure argues that singing, painting and theatre can be studied like medical interventions, with Daisy Fancourt breaking arts experiences into testable “active ingredients” tied to mental and physical health.
Studies cited in the book show measurable effects: singing to babies in intensive care lowers heart rates and improves breathing, while creative therapies can ease chronic pain, aid Parkinson’s balance and help ventilated patients breathe independently.
Fancourt rejects miracle-cure claims such as classical music killing cancer cells, instead positioning arts engagement as a complement to conventional treatment through pathways including stress reduction, self-esteem and vagus-nerve stimulation.
The case is also economic: wellbeing gains are valued at about a £1,500 pay rise, and delaying dementia onset could save the NHS and social care £1.5 billion a year.
That argument lands as arts support shrinks—UK schools got just £9.40 per pupil in arts funding in 2022, creative-degree funding was halved in 2021, and 95% of US adults reported zero arts engagement the previous day.