To explore this, we first need to look at the different ways the arts and health interact – that is, the various programs and projects implemented.
Models of health and the arts
The Art and Health Diamond Model [23] explains how the arts can focus in different ways on health. The horizontal axis moves from focusing on the individual to the social effects. The vertical axis moves from focusing on health services to the art form itself. According to this model, projects can situate themselves within the four points, moving from art to health, and social to individual. However, for a project to become embedded within health services, it moves towards the ‘health’ end of the spectrum, having less of the arts involved as it moves away from the ‘arts’ end of the spectrum. This may imply that rather than sitting alongside one another, the arts and health sit as opposites. This is not necessarily the case.
Ansdell’s Continua Model [24] looks at the aims of the activity (using music as an example) and proposes that different projects are situated along two continua:
- Individual effects to the social effects (like the Arts and Health Diamond).
- The mind the body.
According to this model, projects that are more focused on the mind and individual can lead to the formation and development of identity. Likewise, those that focus on the mind and are more social can help develop communities and values. Similarly, projects that focus more on the mind generate meaning, whereas those that focus more on the body help with regulation.
Ansdell’s Continua Model is certainly a useful way of categorizing activities to differentiate between different strands of work. However, there is a challenge to continua models in general: many projects have multi-layered effects.