Producing the evidence we need and validating the evidence we have

If health policy-makers are to fund arts/health programmes, they need evidence that there is a benefit. For some, the best research evidence is to be derived from blinded clinical trials that have been synthesized into a systematic review. Clearly, however, there are questions which cannot be answered with clinical trials. In this article we discuss how high-quality evidence can be derived from many kinds of research. Clinical trials are useful in some settings but we need to know about the full range of research methods in the emerging field of arts and public health. Researchers can use their own specialist knowledge and forge research collaborations to strengthen the use of arts-based methods for evidence for health improvement at a population level.