Embedding Creative Health in Northern Ireland: A Co-Created Policy Roadmap

Co-Lab Policy Network Award Summary:

Dr Louise O’Boyle at Ulster University will lead a cross-sector network including Northern Health and Social Care Trust, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, NI Creative Health Network (NICHN), Derry and Strabane Creative Health Taskforce, Developing Healthy Communities, and ArtsCare.

The network will develop a strategy for creative health to be systematically commissioned, delivered, and evaluated within NI’s specific devolved context. To maximise reach, four hybrid network activities are planned across the whole of Northern Ireland to capture the diverse health inequalities and cultural ecosystems that exist within the devolved nation.

Network Partners

Devolved Context:

Co-Lab Lead:

Dr Louise O’Boyle is an artist, educator, and academic leader at Ulster University, where she serves as Associate Dean (Academic Quality and Student Experience) in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

Louise is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Expert Trustee for Learning and Teaching on CHEAD, and Chair of GLADHE. She works nationally to shape policy and practice in art and design higher education. Her research sits at the intersection of arts, health, and pedagogy, exploring the artist as social commentator and the potential of visual narratives to articulate the experiences of those living through dying.

Over three decades, Louise has combined studio-based practice, public and community commissions, and curriculum leadership to develop values-led, inclusive learning environments committed to equity literacy, co-created learning spaces and research-informed teaching that enhances student experience while evidencing the wider societal and civic contribution of creative arts education locally and globally today.