‘Arts plan for every hospital’ recommends WA report

The landmark report recommends the development of a state-wide strategy to formalise and strengthen the role of the arts in health and healing.
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Hospital Orchestra Project – a collaboration between WASO and the school of Special Education Needs: Medical and Mental Health at Princess Margaret Hospital. Photo Credit – Nik Babic, permission from WASO.

A new report examining the role of the arts in the health sector in Western Australia has found that while 75% of hospitals in the state deliver arts and health activity, such activity is uncoordinated and often goes unevaluated, with only 28% of respondents surveyed saying they evaluated arts and health projects.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts