Relationships between arts participation, social cohesion, and wellbeing: An integrative review and conceptual model

Arts and cultural strategies have increasingly been engaged by the public health sector to enhance social cohesion, health, and wellbeing, as well as to address the significant health risks posed by social isolation and loneliness. While increasing studies document relationships between arts participation, social cohesion, and wellbeing uniquely, few studies have investigated the relationships between all three and, to date, no evidence synthesis has been conducted on this topic. To address this gap, this integrative review aimed to identify, describe, and synthesize research on arts participation, social cohesion, and wellbeing in a community context by addressing the question: what is the evidence base regarding relationships between arts participation, social cohesion, and well-being? Literature searches were conducted using 10 databases, and 18 articles met inclusion criteria – 16 original research articles and two reviews. Results provide insights on modes and forms of arts participation used, and offer four themes that articulate dimensions of and relationships between arts participation, social cohesion, and well-being, as distilled from the studies. Further, this review offers a conceptual model derived from these themes. The model depicts the relationships found between these concepts in the articles and highlights specific components of these relationships that may help to guide future practice, research, and policy that seeks to leverage the power of the arts to build social cohesion and wellbeing in communities. Prospective studies are needed to test these relationships as well as the potential role of social cohesion as a mechanism for building well-being in communities. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement Yes ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes The data underlying the results presented in the study are available from the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine's research landing page (https://arts.ufl.edu/academics/center-for-arts-in-medicine/researchandpublications/). Data will be made available on this landing page upon acceptance by the journal. [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pu5\_Q8OWdVFoc4koqsukyH89bqbJrw\_d/view?usp=sharing][1] [1]: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pu5_Q8OWdVFoc4koqsukyH89bqbJrw_d/view?usp=sharing