After decades of working with patients with psychological and physical pain, Koenraad Cuypers, a research fellow in the department of public health and general practice at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, became intrigued by the growing body of research suggesting that cultural activities could help improve health among patients.
He was aware of the strong studies linking physical activity with better physical and mental health, as well as a significant reduction in the number of cases of cancer and dementia, but many patients he knew simply weren’t physically capable of intense exercise on a regular basis.
Cultural activities, on the other hand, they could handle. However, there were few studies which looked at the health impact of artistic consumption — things like watching a play at the theatre or appreciating a poem or work of art. The previous research had focused on the health of people who actually created or otherwise actively participated in culture — playing a musical instrument, for instance, or painting a picture.
So Cuypers decided to take advantage of a unique dataset in his native Norway: the HUNT study, which included 130,000 participants who regularly answered questionnaires about their lifestyle, activities and health outcomes.
Working with the records of just over 50,000 men and women, Cuypers asked the participants how often they had attended a museum or art exhibit, gone to the opera, a concert, or play…They also asked the volunteers to rate their health and how satisfied they were with their lives.
The more cultured participants were, the better their self-reported health: 84% of those who participated in at least four activities, said they were in good or very good health; 91% of them reported being satisfied with their lives.
But more importantly, he says, the results strongly suggest that people may be able to improve both their mental and physical health even if they are unable to participate in intense physical activity. "From a psychoanalytic point of view, the ability to lose the tension from daily stress might be a good opportunity to boost the immune system and improve health.” says Cuypers
What’s more, when you engage in these cultural activities to improve both your physical and mental well-being, you may well become strong enough to take advantage of more physical activity too.