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The Healing Arts – Forging Alliances of Arts & Medicine

International Society for Arts and Medicine (ISfAM)
18.-20.06.2026
Berlin

Meeting Abstract

Relationships Between Arts Participation, Social Cohesion, and Well-Being in 18 US Communities: A New Theory of Change

Jill Sonke - National Academy of Medicine; Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Stanford University; University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine
Ji-Hyun Lee - University of Florida
Nicole Morgan - University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine
Shanaé Burch - University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine
Seher Akram - University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine
Cassandra Belden - University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine
Gray Davidson Carroll - University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine
Alexandra Rodriguez - University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine
Clayton Webb - University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine
Derek Li - University of Florida
Katrina Pineda - University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine
Christina Eskridge - University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine
Virginia Pesata - University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine
Aaron Colversion - University of California San Francisco

Text

This article describes a study of One Nation/One Project, a national post-pandemic arts-and-public-health initiative in the US. This values-based, convergent mixed-methods study found significant associations between arts participation, social cohesion, and well-being and offers a theory of change that illustrates these associations, as well as how arts participation increased social cohesion and enhanced well-being. At a moment when the severities of social divisions and loneliness are increasing in the US, this theory of change may enhance social cohesion and well-being by encouraging cross-sector collaboration between the arts, public health, and municipal sectors and supporting investment in the arts.