Towards the Social Prescription of the Arts: Engagement of the Arts in Health and Social Care in Malta

The aim of this paper is to evaluate community-based arts funded projects in terms of their priorities and effectiveness and discuss possibilities for enabling Arts on Prescription scheme in Malta. Thematically, this article explores discourse on the potential of the arts on promoting wellbeing. Methodologically, this paper draws on from primary data collected from focus groups, interviews and an online survey with project leaders and artists of funded arts projects targeting mental health, disability or old age. Specifically, this research evaluates all national funded community-based arts projects in Malta between 2014 to 2018, under a national scheme of President’s Award for Creativity fund, managed by the national Arts Council, Malta. Analysis of this data was used to inform the new national cultural policy on the implantation of the arts on prescription scheme in Malta.

The article was published in the Journal of Applied Arts & Health, Volume 12, Issue 2, Jul 2021, p. 163 – 176
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/jaah_00065_1