NHS South East London contributes to national creative health policy work
NHS South East London took part in a national creative health policy workshop in Manchester in March 2026.
The workshop was the first event in the Mayoral Authorities Creative Health Network Policy Co Lab. The programme looks at how creative health can support health and care priorities across different regions in England.
NHS South East London attended with colleagues from the Greater London Authority and Croydon Council culture teams. Other attendees included people working in health, culture and local government. On the day, participants came together to explore the development of creative health as part of a system-wide approach to prioritising prevention and tackling health inequalities.
The Mayoral Authorities Creative Health Network has been awarded funding through the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Creative Communities Co-Lab Policy Network Award and is delivered in partnership with University of Manchester academic partners.
What is creative health?
Creative health uses creative activities to support health and wellbeing. This can include arts, culture and creativity in community and health settings.
The workshop shared examples from across the country. These showed how creative health can help:
- support mental health and wellbeing
- prevent illness
- reduce health inequalities
- strengthen communities and neighbourhoods
Colleagues from West Yorkshire for example, shared their work on developing a regional creative health approach. They also showed tools that help people access creative activities more easily.
Building shared learning and evidence
A key part of the workshop was sharing examples of creative health activity that link to local and regional policy priorities.
This work will support a wider research programme led by the University of Manchester. The research will inform future workshops and a policy paper for people working across health and care systems.
Participants also discussed the need for clearer evidence on the social and economic impact of creative health. This includes showing how creative approaches can support prevention and neighbourhood health services.
Why this matters for south east London
Taking part in the Policy Co‑Lab supports NHS South East London’s work on prevention, population health and reducing health inequalities.
Learning from other areas helps strengthen local approaches. It also supports joined‑up working across health, local government and communities in south east London.