Adolescent wellbeing is a predictor of school attainment, adult mental health, relationships, and socioeconomic outcomes. However, the wellbeing of young people in the UK has significantly decreased in the last two decades. Current research into creative health has found increasingly positive links between supporting participation in arts, culture, entertainment,and sports (SPACES) and young people’s wellbeing. In this article, Stephanie Ray, Samuel Hugh-Jones and Professor Neil Humphrey, from the Manchester Institute of Education and the Division of Population Health, outline how creative health approaches can support young people’s wellbeing.

• A major international study has ranked the UK’s young people fourth from bottom across nearly 74 countries in terms of life satisfaction.
• Research suggests arts and cultural engagement could improve young people’s wellbeing if implemented as part of a system-wide creative health strategy.
• The full impact of SPACES for wellbeing can only be truly realised through a unified effort involving researchers, educators, policymakers, practitioners, and young people themselves.

Adolescents’ wellbeing in the UK

Wellbeing, as defined by young people themselves, is about feeling good and functioning well. Adolescence is the peak period during which most lifetime cases of mental health problems begin. Research indicates that the wellbeing of adolescents has decreased in the last two decades, and in 2023, a major international study ranked the UK’s young people fourth from bottom across nearly 74 countries in terms of life satisfaction. This public health crisis requires urgent attention.

SPACES and young people’s wellbeing

A recent study from The University of Manchester as part of the #BeeWell project explored patterns of arts, culture, entertainment and sports activities among young people. Our findings demonstrated that those who engaged with wide-ranging or selective activities had improved wellbeing one year later compared to those with generally low engagement.

However, our research shows inequalities in how frequently young people participated in arts, culture, entertainment and sports activities.  For example, LGBTQ+ young people and those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds were more likely to report generally low patterns of engagement than more frequent participation in selective activities (such as sports, exercise or other physical activities, and playing games on a games console or computer).

Social return on investment of creative health

SPACES-based creative health approaches tend to fall into categories of ‘promotion’, ‘prevention’ and/or ‘early intervention’. These approaches can create enormous savings by reducing the development of mental health conditions. Investment in them may reduce pressures on our already stretched Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Studies examining the social return on investment (SROI) of creative health approaches have found a return of over £2 for each £1 invested, with some estimates being as high as £10.

For example, Football Beyond Borders (FBB) is a school-based intervention combining social and emotional learning, support from peers and a trusted adult, and physical activity. Our recent study established that FBB improved the wellbeing of at-risk young people. In addition, an analysis by Pro Bono Economics found the SROI of the programme to be £2.20 for every £1 spent.

The Factory Schools Programme uses local Manchester-based artists to deliver a creative course across schools in the city-region. The sessions range from poetry and rap to collaging and making digital art. Participants have said: “I enjoy Factory as it’s changed my behaviour in schools and has given me something to come in for and be good” and that the artists, “actually listen to us and we actually learn”.

Creative Health Strategy

A growing body of evidence demonstrates the efficacy and economic value of SPACES and creative health approaches as part of a multifaceted strategy to address the public health crisis in young people’s wellbeing.

The 2023 Creative Health Review by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing concluded that, “The long-term value of investing in creative health must be recognised and appropriate resources should be allocated by HM Treasury to support the Creative Health Strategy”. Decision makers in Greater Manchester, the Arts Council, and the European Union are beginning to use SPACES as part of creative health strategies to promote young people’s wellbeing.

However, funding for arts and cultural engagement has declined in recent years. This has led to:

• A reduction in the number of arts-specialist teachers and time spent teaching arts-based subjects;
• A reduction in the proportion of young people electing to study art and design, drama, and music in secondary school or college;
• Only about one in three young people engaging in the recommended levels of daily physical activity, with girls less active than boys.

A whole system approach

The new government stated in its manifesto that “Britain is currently suffering from a mental health epidemic that is paralysing lives, particularly those of children and young people” and pledged to take action. A national creative health strategy could work to address this epidemic. Such a strategy must take into consideration the barriers to young people’s participation in creative activities. Central to both local and national strategies must be a commitment to listen to young people’s voices as this work takes shape.

To address inequalities in participation, increased provision is needed in and out of school, with a focus on making a diverse range of activities and programmes that are accessible and appealing to all. We need something for everyone.  There are several examples of existing local activities which could inform a national strategy:

• The Greater Manchester Baccalaureate (MBacc) offers an ambitious pathway for young people from the age of 14 to undertake high quality technical qualifications that combine core academic skills with performing arts and design, offering a direct route to creative, culture and sport employment sectors, benefiting the economy of the city-region.
• GM Moving’s Feel Good Your Way campaign aims to support girls with their mental health through physical activity.
• Creatives Now, a youth-led arts collective in Bolton, offers a range of activities that give young people a platform to express themselves through art and creativity, empowering them to take an active role in shaping the cultural landscape of their communities.

We support the implementation of a national Creative Health Strategy, akin to the one outlined by the APPG on Arts, Health and Wellbeing, coordinated by the Cabinet Office and strongly involving the Department for Education, the Department for Health and Social Care, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Involving local and regional government would also ensure the inclusion of effective place-based interventions such as the ones we have outlined.

Our research can inform such a strategy, which can only be truly realised through a unified effort involving researchers, educators, policymakers, practitioners, and young people. It is only by collaborating across these diverse sectors that we can ensure SPACES becomes a firmly established catalyst for wellbeing benefits that resonate across generations.

As the Children’s Wellbeing Bill begins its passage through Parliament, there has never been as good an opportunity or a greater need to turn the corner on young people’s mental health.