The Science of How the Arts Save Lives with Daisy Fancourt

Scientific research now shows that regularly engaging with the arts reduces chronic pain risk at rates comparable to physical activity, delays the onset of dementia symptoms, and lowers perioperative anxiety more effectively than anti-anxiety medication. In conversation with Graham School dean Seth Green, Daisy Fancourt, professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London, director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Arts and Health, and author of Art Cure, presents findings from over 100 epidemiological studies tracking tens of thousands of people across years and decades. Regular arts engagement is associated with lower rates of depression and anxiety, reduced frailty, improved cognitive reserve, and better cardiovascular and metabolic biomarkers. Trials show roughly a 30% reduction in depression symptoms within 10 to 12 weeks, an effect comparable to cognitive behavioral therapy and augmented when both are combined. Programs like Breathe Magic, which converts occupational therapy for children with cerebral palsy into a magic camp, and research on music in surgical settings demonstrate how arts can be applied across clinical contexts to produce measurable biological and neurological change. The conversation turns to what counts as arts engagement, why the field has struggled to reach public awareness, and the ideology that frames arts as a luxury rather than a health behavior. Daisy describes the biological mechanisms at work, including stress hormone reduction, immune activation, emotional regulation, and social bonding, before moving into policy. Topics include arts on prescription pilots across 23 US sites, insurance funding models, arts in early childhood education, Iceland's universal basic income for artists, and the evidence behind dosage guidelines. Audience questions cover the health of professional artists, making art versus consuming it, social prescribing, reading as an arts behavior, and how the research has shaped Daisy's own life and practice. 0:00 Introduction and guest credentials 1:37 Overview of arts and health evidence 3:40 Arts engagement as a health behavior spectrum 6:09 Physical health benefits and cognitive reserve 10:40 Biological and neurological underpinnings 12:25 The arts as a daily health pill 15:14 Defining arts engagement and what counts 18:53 Why arts engagement has declined 21:04 How arts affect the brain and body 24:00 Theater, theory of mind, and criminal justice 26:36 The risk of over-instrumentalizing the arts 30:09 Policy pathways and scaling arts access 33:43 Audience questions: downsides and digital arts 35:45 Arts across the lifespan and dosage 38:18 Defining arts guidelines like dietary recommendations 39:20 Social prescribing and the US context 41:41 How the research changed Daisy's own life About the speaker: Daisy Fancourt is professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London, where she heads the Social Biobehavioral Research Group. She serves as director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Arts and Health and holds the UNESCO Chair in Arts and Global Health. Her book Art Cure is a Times bestseller and longlisted for the Women's Prize for Nonfiction. About Graham: The Graham School is a one-of-a-kind intellectual community that brings the best of the University of Chicago to lifelong learners who are seeking discovery and discernment. Through an array of distinctive programs and courses in the Great Books, the liberal arts, and advanced leadership, we welcome learners who seek to deepen their understanding of the world and lead examined lives of purpose. Learn more at https://graham.uchicago.edu