News
An evaluation toolkit and two free online learning courses on how to use evidence to show the benefits of arts and creativity in later life were launched by the Institute of Public Health (IPH) on 25 April.
The Institute of Public Health informs public policy to support healthier populations in Ireland and Northern Ireland. In 2021, IPH carried out an evidence review on how arts and creativity can have positive outcomes for older people’s health and wellbeing. One of the recommendations identified the need for an evaluation toolkit for the arts and creativity sector to be able to better measure, record and assess the impact of their programmes.
Toolkit
The toolkit – Assessing the Impact of Arts and Creativity Interventions for Older People: A Public Health Evaluation Toolkit – provides a ‘how to’ guide for assessing the impact of arts and creativity interventions for older adults. It is primarily intended for those working within arts or community organisations in the arts, creativity and ageing sectors or those who provide or fund arts and creativity activities that aim to improve older people’s health and wellbeing.
The toolkit includes guidance on the approaches and tools you can use to prepare, plan, and implement your evaluation, and helps you identify outcomes which will matter the most to the people you work with and to your organisation.
Online Learning Courses
IPH has developed two digital learning pathways that can be accessed free of charge on its Public Health Matters online learning platform:
- Arts and Creativity: Lessons for Active Ageing
- A How to Guide – Evaluation Methods for Arts and Creativity Programmes
The online courses provide evidence on the benefits of arts and creativity in later life and a step-by-step practical guide, for those designing or delivering programmes, on how to use evaluation methods to show the benefits for older adults.
