On November 3rd 2022, the London Arts and Health team travelled to Manchester to attend the launch of the Creative Health Strategy set to make Manchester the first-ever Creative Health City. To guide this commitment, the Greater Manchester Creative Health City Region Strategy was launched at an event at the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester.
Posted: 17/11/2022
The strategy, authored by Dr. Rebecca Gordon Nesbitt (Research Fellow at King’s College, London) considers some of the ways in which Creative Health can help deliver the 2022 Greater Manchester Strategy (GMS) helping GM become a greener, fairer and more prosperous city region. The strategy examines the ways in which creative health is meeting these priorities as identified in GM by the Institute for Health Equity and by the Independent Inequalities, including wellbeing, people and communities and a refreshing emphasis on a preventative approach. The strategy contributes to GM becoming a Marmot city region, and shows how the alignment of creative health supports NHS England’s priorities, such as Core20PLUS5. The strategy covers the whole life course, including reflections and practice from birth, early years and more. Building on Dr. Clive Parkinson’s seminal publication A Social Glue, the strategy lays out key leadership and systems change, including how commissioning will work within the new ICS structure in GM, how communication between all groups is vital and the role that grass routes and VCSE sector has to play in delivering and supporting the most vulnerable populations in GM.
We heard from key NHS sector leads including from GPs, CYP mental health as well as a plethora of excellent and vital arts and health organisations right at the front line of delivery of the strategy in GM.
Through the website and social media, people can find their local borough leaders across GM and find and connect with services that are relevant to them. The strategy brings together key sector leaders across the ICP, Social Care, Manchester University, the local council and the culture sector to work together to deliver the creative health city vision.
Our challenge in London is to think about how this strategic work in Manchester might support our own development and delivery of a creative health city in the Capital. We have the constituent parts but must find ways to work together to realise the vision that Manchester has so successfully launched in their region.
With huge congratulations to Julie McCarthy, Clive Parkinson, Sir Richard Leese and all the organisations who have worked tirelessly to launch this strategy!
This article has been taken from the London Arts and Health website, click HERE
