This open access book offers an overview of the beautiful powerful and dynamic array of
opportunities to promote health through the arts from theoretical methodological pedagogical
and critical perspectives. This is the first-known text to connect the disparate
inter-disciplinary literatures into a coherent volume for health promotion practitioners
researchers and teachers. It provides a one-stop depository for using the arts as tools for
health promotion in many settings and as bridges across communities cultures and sectors. The
diverse applications of the arts in health promotion transcend the multiple contexts within
which health is created i.e. individual community and societal levels and has a number of
potential health aesthetic and social outcomes. Topics covered within the chapters include:
Exploring the Potential of the Arts to Promote Health and Social Justice Drawing as a
Salutogenic Therapy Aid for Grieving Adolescents in Botswana Community Theater for Health
Promotion in Japan From Arts to Action: Project SHINE as a Case Study of Engaging Youth in
Efforts to Develop Sustainable Water Sanitation and Hygiene Strategies in Rural Tanzania and
India Movimiento Ventana: An Alternative Proposal to Mental Health in Nicaragua Using Art to
Bridge Research and Policy: An Initiative of the United States National Academy of Medicine
Arts and Health Promotion is an innovative and engaging resource for a broad audience including
practitioners researchers university instructors and artists. It is an important text for
undergraduate- and graduate-level courses particularly in program planning research methods
(especially qualitative methodology) community health and applied art classes. The book also
is useful for professional development among current health promotion practitioners community
nurses community psychologists public health professionals and social workers.
