The results of the first major UK study to quantify the benefits of consuming culture and heritage are in – and it’s good news for our health and the economy.

Engaging in cultural activities such as a musical performance or attending an exhibition was found to have significant benefits to health and wellbeing, including alleviating pain, frailty, depression, occurance of dementia and dependence on medication.

The review, commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport was a collaboration between Frontier Economics and the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Centre for Arts and Health, which is based at University College London.

Professor Daisy Fancourt, director of the WHO centre and also a co-author of the research, said it had shown that “arts engagement has diverse and tangible effects on health, from supporting cognitive development and protecting against cognitive decline, to reducing symptoms of mental illness and enhancing wellbeing, reducing pain and stress, via the same neurological and physiological pathways activated by medication, reducing loneliness, and maintaining physical functioning, thereby reducing frailty and age-related physical decline.”

The report found evidence across a broad age range – from children to adults – to suggest health and wellbeing improved when they attended or participated in organised artistic, musical or theatrical activities.

Using methods laid out by Treasury and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Frontier estimated the greatest (£7 billion of the £8 billion) economic benefit to participating in cultural activities comes from an improvement in quality of life.

This improvement was quantified via a reduction in reliance on the NHS and social care services – for example, it's estimated that a group of over 65s who attended a regular drawing class created a financial dividend of, on average £1,310 each from going to see their GP less and feeling better about their lives.

The report findings form part of a wider body of research, funded by the Culture and Heritage Capital (CHC) Programme.

By building on existing research, there's now a framework for applying monetary value to the health and wellbeing benefits of culture and heritage, which could form part of a future preventative health agenda, easing the burden on an over-stretched NHS.

“Understanding the monetary value of the health and wellbeing impacts of culture and heritage enhances government’s ability to make informed decisions about resource allocation across all parts of the public realm.” said Lord Gus O’Donnell in his foreword to the review

“The findings from this study can also help government to develop policies that integrate public health, education and the development of local communities. The UK government has the opportunity to leverage these insights to shape policies that will preserve and develop our rich cultural heritage and also act as a catalyst for improved national wellbeing and new economic growth.”