Supporting arts and health evaluation: Report of a UK knowledge transfer partnership

Despite increasing calls for a robust evidence base, there is no clear consensus surrounding appropriate methodologies for evaluation of the impact of arts on health and well-being. Commissioners and stakeholders often require evidence of measurable outcomes, but quantitative evaluation does not provide a complete picture of impact, neither can it explain the effects of arts. Further, outcomes and impact evaluation must be balanced with process evaluation to guide the development of practice. Practitioners face significant challenges in responding to these issues, including evaluation capacity, knowledge, skills and resources. This article reports on a project that supported the arts and health field by generating knowledge, resources and support for evaluation. A two-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) between an Arts and Health consultancy and a University explored evaluation issues and developed strategies with practitioners. A guided evaluation model, in which external evaluators worked alongside practitioners in an iterative process, was developed. While resourcing such partnerships is challenging, our project demonstrates that they can strengthen sustainable evaluation, generating evidence for local commissioning as well as contributing to longer-term research agendas.