ONLINE LECTURE AND DISCUSSION: Thinking Beyond ‚Just‘ Hedonic Well-Being: Critically Considering Other Use Cases of the Arts as Culturally-Embedded Vehicles for Targeting Health and Society

Part of the lecture series Music and Medicine

As the arts increasingly move toward evidence-based applications in health and psychology, much of the focus has remained on traditional outcomes such as hedonic well-being, life satisfaction, stress and anxiety, or other physiological markers of health and disease. These domains are perhaps quite natural targets for arts applications – we all want to feel better; and perhaps we intuitively feel that the arts, as often pleasurable activities, may, with a sufficient amount of empirical assessment and mechanistic understanding, play a key role to these ends. However, the arts, as longstanding, omnipresent, and often deeply embedded aspects of human culture, action, and societies, may also open many other possibilities for creative approaches to addressing health or well-being needs.

This webinar invites researchers and policymakers to broaden our lens. We explore emerging and underexamined applications of the arts that extend into domains such as connection, belonging, meaning, and spirituality—dimensions that are central to the human condition but often remain outside standard health frameworks. Featuring a collection of practitioners in arts and health-related areas, we will discuss a selection of case-study presentations, highlighting innovative uses of the arts in contexts including healthcare, education, and the doctor–patient relationships. Speakers will discuss not only what is being done, but also how these complex outcomes are being chosen, operationalised and evaluated. A moderated discussion and audience Q&A will encourage critical reflection on current assumptions, methods, and future directions in the arts and health field. The goal is to spark new research questions, stimulate cross-sector dialogue, and challenge the status quo in how we understand and study the roles of the arts in human life.

Moderators and speakers:
Matthew Pelowski (he/his), Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria
MacKenzie D. Trupp (she/her), Radboud University Medical Center (Radboud UMC), Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Nijmegen, Netherlands

Invited commentators:
Thieme Stap (he/his), Radboud UMC Health Academy, Transformative Learning in Parkinson’s Care, Nijmegen, Netherlands
Claire Howlin (she/her), University College Dublin, School of Psychology, Ireland
Kaj Osteroth (she/her), artist, Berlin / Brandenburg, Germany
Sarah Hegenbart (she/her), Technical Universitäty of Munich, TUM School of Engineering and Design, Germany

In English

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Organization: Katarzyna Grebosz-Haring, University Salzburg, University Mozarteum Salzburg, Interuniversity Organisation Arts & Knowledges, Programme Area Intermediation. Music – Effects – Analysis

In cooperation with Matthew Pelowski and MacKenzie D. Trupp, University of Vienna, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology and the Vienna Cognitive Science Hub.

This webinar is the third from the Webinar-Series organized by International Network for the Critical Appraisal in Arts and Health Research (INCAAHR). The series brings together leading researchers, artists, and clinicians internationally to explore both the strengths and limitations of arts in health and of current evidence for the value of arts in health, and to assess the extent of evidence-based arts-for-health practice. The aim is to foster a transdisciplinary and rigorous discussion on what the arts can realistically contribute to wellbeing and health and how to advance future research, policy, and practice development.

The Salzburg series Music & Medicine presents scientific and artistic contributions from leading international experts in various disciplines to explore the interactions and mechanisms between the experience, processing and psycho-physiological impact of music on humans and to understand how music may promote health and wellbeing.

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