WELLCOMM (Wellbeing and Communities)

Culture, arts and community engagement can benefit wellbeing, but how do our neighbourhoods influence our participation?

In this project we analysed data from six UK cohort studies on health and community participation to explore the long-term benefits of community activities for wellbeing: arts participation, culture and heritage, sports and nature activities, volunteering and community groups. A key focus in this project was on geography, so whether different neighbourhoods had different levels of engagement and benefit from community activities. As the COVID-19 pandemic took place during this study, we also looked at the impact of the pandemic on community engagement and participation.

Key findings

• Arts participation more than once per week is associated with higher life satisfaction, lower levels of mental distress, and better mental functioning in the long term while engaging in sports and physical activity 1-3 days a week is associated with greater levels of physical functioning, general health, and vitality
• In particular, the benefits of arts participation and cultural engagement on mental distress and life satisfaction hold after controlling for variables like gender, demographic background, socio-economic characteristics, health behaviour and support from family and friends.
• But there are differences in participation based on geographical factors such as where we live and the characteristics of our neighbourhoods such as area deprivation

Impact and media

Dr Karen Mak and the team were awarded the Royal Society for Public Health Journal Award in 2022 for their work on this project around volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Publications

Mak, H.W., Gallou, E., & Fancourt, D. (2023). Is social capital higher in areas with a higher density of historic assets? Analyses of 11,112 adults living in England. Perspectives in Public Health. [DOI] Also featured on Understanding Society’s blog.

Mak H,W., Coulter, R., & Fancourt, D. (2022). Relationships between volunteering, neighbourhood deprivation and mental wellbeing across four British birth cohorts: Evidence from 10 years of the UK Household Longitudinal Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. [DOI] Also featured on UK Data Service’s Impact Blog.

Elsden, E., Bu, F., Fancourt, D., & Mak, H. W. (2022). Frequency of leisure activity engagement and health functioning over a 4-year period: a population-based study amongst middle-aged adults. BMC Public Health. [DOI]

Mak, H.W., Coulter, R. & Fancourt, D. (2021). Associations between community cultural engagement and life satisfaction, mental distress and mental health functioning using data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS): are associations moderated by area deprivation? BMJ Open. [DOI] Also featured in the Arts Professional.

Mak H.W., Fancourt D (2021) Do socio-demographic factors predict children’s engagement in arts and culture? Comparisons of in-school and out-of-school participation in the Taking Part Survey. PLoS ONE. [DOI]

Mak, H.W., & Fancourt, D.  (2021) Predictors of engaging in voluntary work during the COVID-19 pandemic: analyses of data from 31,890 adults in the UK. Perspectives in Public Health. [DOI]

Mak, H.W., Coulter, R., & Fancourt, D (2021). Associations between neighbourhood deprivation and engagement in arts, culture and heritage: evidence from two nationally representative samples. BMC Public Health. [DOI]

Mak, H.W., Coulter, R., & Fancourt, D. (2020). Patterns of social inequality in arts and cultural participation: Findings from a nationally representative sample of adults living in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. WHO Public Health Panorama. [DOI]

Mak, H.W., Coulter, R. & Fancourt, D. (2020). Does arts and cultural engagement vary geographically? Evidence from the UK Household Longitudinal Study. Public Health. [DOI]

Wang, S. & Mak, H.W. & Fancourt, D. (2020). Arts, mental distress, mental health functioning & life satisfaction: fixed effects analyses of a nationally-representative panel study. BMC Public Health. [DOI] Also featured on Understanding Society’s blog.

Fancourt, D., Baxter, L., & Lorencatto, F. (2020). Barriers and enablers to engagement in participatory arts activities amongst individuals with depression and anxiety: quantitative analyses using a behaviour change framework. BMC public health. [DOI]

Perkins, R., Mason-Bertrand, A., Fancourt, D., Baxter, L., & Williamon, A. (2020). How participatory music engagement supports mental well-being: a meta-ethnography. Qualitative health research. [DOI]

Fancourt, D., & Baxter, L. (2020). Differential participation in community cultural activities amongst those with poor mental health: Analyses of the UK Taking Part Survey. Social Science & Medicine. [DOI]