Healing Arts is a global campaign by the Jameel Arts & Health Lab in collaboration with the World Health Organization
Tuesday 23 September 2025 | 1 - 3PM Federal Reserve Bank of New York
A closed roundtable held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to explore the economic opportunities of the arts & health sector
This closed roundtable will examine emerging opportunities and the economic impact of arts and health with a particular emphasis on the expanding field of social prescribing. Building on a recent Frontiers Economics report prepared for the UK Department for Culture, Media & Sport —co-authored by Lab Steering Committee Chair Professor Daisy Fancourt—which found that culture and heritage engagement delivers £18 billion in annual value for health and wellbeing, the discussion will also incorporate new U.S.-based evidence.
AARP, in partnership with the NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative, commissioned an independent economic analysis by Deloitte demonstrating that music engagement for individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers yields significant benefits. The report found that the economic value of incorporating music engagement in the care of individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias is between $5.1 billion and $11.9 billion annually.
Together, these findings strengthen the case for embedding arts engagement into health and social care systems, particularly through social prescribing models that link individuals to non-clinical interventions. By connecting the dots between cultural participation, health equity, and economic value, this roundtable aims to catalyze policy and investment pathways that recognize the arts as a core component of public health.
The Roundtable will be co-chaired by Prof. Jill Sonke, U.S. Cultural Policy Fellow, Stanford University, Prof. Nisha Sajnani, NYU Steinhardt; Co-Director, Jameel Arts & Health Lab, and Javier Silva, Senior Associate Director, Community Engagement Outreach & Education for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
“I see Kristen Visbal’s “Fearless Girl facing the Wall Street bull as a powerful metaphor for social prescribing in that it symbolizes agency, the reclaiming of public space for wellbeing, and a challenge to dominant systems. Just as the statue invites us to rethink power and possibility, social prescribing empowers individuals to access non-clinical resources like arts, culture, nature, and community support as essential parts of health and care.”
- Nisha Sajnani, Co-Director, Jameel Arts & Health Lab
