Download Project Report
Active Ingredients – The Aesop planning and evaluation model for Arts with a Social Purpose
The Active Ingredients project has
been developed jointly by Aesop and
BOP Consulting. It aims to deepen our
understanding of the ways in which arts
interventions in health and social contexts
actually work - and to improve the ways
these are designed and their impacts
measured.
Last week, in partnership with Aesop, we launched Active Ingredients – a new report exploring how arts and cultural activities achieve broader outcomes, particularly in relation to health.
Based on the participation of over 120 practitioners and representatives of the arts, culture, health and social care sectors, the report proposes that more can be done to understand and outline the ‘active ingredients’ in arts and cultural projects that lead to short and longer-term outcomes for those taking part.
In a policy and funding environment that is increasingly defined as ‘evidence-based’ (despite an often-narrow definition of evidence), the report acts as a guide to help those designing and delivering arts and health projects to uncover the specific mechanisms by which the interventions create changes at an individual or collective level.
For example, what are the ‘active ingredients’ in a group drumming session seeking to improve social co-operation? Is it engaging in a new form of abstract expression, or the social interaction? Is it encountering something ‘other’, or, most likely, a combination of these aspects? This short discussion paper provides an opportunity to consider the combination of these different ‘ingredients’ to support better understanding of how project design is linked to different effects or outcomes.
This ‘active ingredients’ approach helps arts and health practitioners define their work in a way that clearly articulates its value, and for commissioners and funders to discuss this work using shared concepts and language.
It is hoped this will lead to stronger partnerships and clearer communication across sectors as the complex processes at play in creative activities are better recognised by all those involved. We welcome any further thoughts and feedback as people test it out and refine how it can be used in the future.
Download the full report below.
The Active Ingredients
Our new guide for understanding arts and cultural interventions in health and social settings
Sep 17, 2018
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Douglas Lonie
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Douglas is an Associate at BOP Consulting, leading on major multi-stakeholder research and evaluation projects in the UK and internationally.
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