Alexandra Rodriguez, M.P.H., a public health doctoral student in the social and behavioral sciences concentration at the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions, George Hack, Ph.D., PHHP’s associate dean for educational affairs, and colleagues from Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University published “Arts Engagement as a Health Behavior: An Opportunity to Address Mental Health Inequities.” The article appears in the journal Community Health Equity Research & Policy.
The article focuses on how arts engagement offers an accessible, equitable opportunity to combat mental health inequities and impact upstream determinants of health. To capture the impact of arts engagement, this paper creates an applied social ecological model of health while aiming to advocate that engaging in the arts is a protective and rehabilitative behavior for mental health.