01What was studied
A registered systematic review of eight studies in which health professionals referred adults to community visual art, music, writing or museum programmes.
02Main finding
All included studies reported improved wellbeing. Only one measured depression and anxiety; its changes were statistically significant but clinically modest.
03Quality of the evidence
Preliminary for efficacy. The review followed a clear, registered method, but it found no randomised trials or controlled studies, and samples and programmes differed substantially.
04Why it matters for NEYREL
It offers a useful institutional model connecting creative community programmes with social and health services while keeping them distinct from clinical art therapy.
05Practical application
A NEYREL pilot could offer 8–12 week cycles with genuine choice of activity and measure wellbeing, participation, autonomy and social connection before, after and at follow-up.
06Important limitations
Without control groups, improvement cannot be attributed specifically to art. Seven of the eight studies came from the United Kingdom, and follow-up was generally short.