Here's a poem by peace activist and buddhist monk Thick Nhat Hanh
They don’t publish the good news
They don’t publish
the good news.
The good news is published
by us.
We have a special edition every moment,
and we need you to read it.
The good news is that you are alive,
and the linden tree is still there,
standing firm in the harsh Winter.
The good news is that you have wonderful eyes
to touch the blue sky.
The good news is that your child is there before you,
and your arms are available:
hugging is possible.
They only print what is wrong.
Look at each of our special editions.
We always offer the things that are not wrong.
We want you to benefit from them
and help protect them.
The dandelion is there by the side walk,
smiling its wondrous smile,
singing the song of eternity.
Listen! You have ears that can hear it.
Bow your head.
Listen to it.
Leave behind the world of sorrow and preoccupation
and get free.
The latest good news
is that you can do it.
Thick Nhat Hanh
Creative Health: The Arts for Health and Wellbeing
We welcome this Report published in July 2017 which sets out research, evidence gathering and discussions with health care professionals, patients, artists, MPs and policy makers. Produced by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing it follows two years of inquiry.
The Report finds: "arts-based aproaches can help
people to stay well, recover faster, manage long term conditions and
experience a better quality of life." It also shows how arts interventions can save money and help staff in their work.
It recommends the
National Institiute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) includes the
use of the arts in healthcare in its guidance where evidence
justifies it and hopes that:
- New collaborations will be formed
across conventional boundaries.
- The thinking and practice of people working
in health and social care will be influenced.
- A new culture will grow that
supports the government in the process of change towards the creation of
a society which is both healthy and "health creating."
Finally the Report calls for "all those who believe in
the value of the arts for health and wellbeing to speak up."
It goes on to say "We will
work with all who believe, as we do, that the arts offer an essential opportunity for the improvement of health and wellbeing."
To contact the APPG and lend your support to the arts in health, email Alexandra Coutler on: coultera@parliament.uk
This post was first published in a slightly different form on Christine's blog at WordWell Writing Workshops
