A programme exploring the potential of creative prescribing to support physical and mental health in west Wales has delivered promising results.

The Arts and Health Creative Prescribing Discovery Programme, which ran from July 2022 to March 2024, was aimed at creating a nurturing environment for the growth of arts on prescription across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, and Ceredigion.

The initiative, which was funded by the Arts Council of Wales, Hywel Dda University Health Board (UHB), and Tywi Taf Cluster, saw more than 866 participants, including patients, community members, healthcare staff, and 18 artists, take part.

Activities ranged from artists working 'in residence' within healthcare teams to Creative Prescribing Cafes, which served as hubs for discussion and engagement.

The programme was led by Hywel Dda's arts and health team in partnership with Hywel Dda UHB's public health team, Public Health Wales, the Social Prescribing Community of Practice, Health Education Improvement Wales, and six arts partners.

Kathryn Lambert, Hywel Dda UHB arts in health coordinator, said: "Creative prescribing is a way of connecting people with the arts to help people to better manage their own health and well-being.

"It's built on the growing evidence base that activities such as singing, dancing, craft or reading a good book boosts our mood, connects us with others, and improves our well-being.

"We've been asking what's needed to better connect people with the arts in their local communities through a series of cafes, residencies and projects."

The programme also successfully connected professionals across the arts, health, and third sectors, creating new opportunities for collaboration.

Di Ford, an artist from Span Arts, described the transformative effect of participation, saying: "By the end of it, it's like they have a sense of empowerment or achievement that they've created something, it builds confidence, and it can build self-esteem and things as well."

Dr Cath Jenkins, GP and academic fellow at Swansea University, said: "We've had some really positive feedback from people that they've enjoyed, that they've had physical benefits, but also that they've felt that it's been good for their mental wellbeing and that they've made friends and social links through it."

The programme has been evaluated independently by Hywel Dda UHB's TriTech Institute and Innovation team.

According to the report, health professionals noted an increased awareness and understanding of the benefits of arts in healthcare, with 100 per cent of junior doctors attending training events reporting an increase in their knowledge of the evidence supporting arts in health.

At the creative connections event, 93 per cent of attendees stated they learned more about arts in health for their clients.

The evaluation also highlighted key learnings, such as the complexity of implementing creative prescribing, the challenges of data collection, and the need for sustained funding to support future arts and health initiatives.

Based on these insights, Hywel Dda UHB has outlined four crucial recommendations: to foster cross-sector collaboration across the health board, to develop a health-board-wide pilot arts referral programme, to explore and overcome barriers to effective data capture, and to secure funding for larger-scale research and evaluation activities.