What Works Wellbeing – Heritage and Wellbeing: State of the Evidence
What Works Wellbeing has published a scoping review that focuses on heritage and wellbeing, which encompasses 75 papers and reports on the impact of national heritage. Places of heritage, interventions and assets, including historical monuments, building and objects, can all impact individual wellbeing and the wellbeing of the greater community. Many surveys have found evidence that the vast majority of adults believe it is important to look after our national heritage. They also found that more than 315,000 people work as heritage volunteers and support our national heritage sites so they can be enjoyed long into the future.
The main points that have emerged from the heritage scoping review:
- Evidence shows that heritage has a positive impact on individual wellbeing
- Evidence shows that heritage has a positive impact on community wellbeing
- Evidence is mixed quality, showing that studies exploring complex question such as this are difficult to fully capture in reviews
- More evidence is needed to explore the experience across different groups
- More evidence is needed to explore heritage assets in wider regions, such as coastal and rural areas
- Potential negative impacts of interventions relate to how effective the design and delivery is and whether interventions considered the needs of individuals and groups
Heritage explored in the review includes:
- Cultural activities in museums
- Object handling in hospitals, healthcare and similar settings
- Museums, historic and other heritage sites
- Heritage-focused social engagement and inclusion projects
- Living in historical places
- Activities in landscapes and parks rich with history
- Heritage volunteering
- Wider impacts of a social and economic nature concerning historic assets and places
- Community archaeology and heritage research
Both the briefing and the full scoping review are supplied on the What Works Wellbeing website.