The role of art and the environment in caring for hospital patients

BackgroundBracco Foundation has been running the “Culture and Health” project for some years now. It is aimed at evaluating the impact that cultural participation has on the perception of individual psychological well-being.One of the main activities last year on the subject was the international symposium “Lifestyles, health and culture: towards a new welfare”, dedicated to the role played by culture in the area of individual and social well-being.Continuing and investigating in-depth the subject, Bracco Foundation organised a reflection on how Art and the Environment can help to improve healthcare. Content  The use of visual and performing arts and the environment in hospitals can play a determining role in improving the quality of the service offered, in achieving greater well-being for the people involved, be they patients or health staff, and helping produce beneficial clinical and psychological results on patients. The aim of the symposium was thus to supply the theoretical bases of and scientific evidence for the role of visual arts, music and environmental design in improving the quality and efficacy of medical services in hospitals.