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4. The UK Policy ContextThe diversity of arts and health interventions is also reflected in publicationsby Government bodies that have been increasingly involved in sponsoring artsfor health initiatives. These include the Department of Health (DH), theDepartment for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), The Estates and FacilitiesDivision of the Department of Health (formerly NHS Estates) and the SocialExclusion Unit (SEU).In addition to the therapeutic and personal benefits of arts in health care, anumber of key themes emerge from analysis of policy documents producedsince the 1990s: Reducing inequalities and addressing social exclusion throughparticipation in the arts. The impact of physical environments and building design on patientoutcomes. Patient and public involvement. Strengthening the evidence base for arts based approaches.4.1 Reducing inequalities and addressing social exclusion throughparticipation in the artsThe establishment of the Social Exclusion Unit and 18 Policy Action Teams in1997 reflected a new approach to tackling social exclusion that encompasseda multitude of factors including: unemployment, discrimination, poor housing,ill health and family breakdown. The role of arts within this strategy wasarticulated in the 1998 Social Exclusion Unit document, Bringing BritainTogether, which outlines the government’s strategy for neighbourhoodrenewal:‘The arts have sometimes played a surprisingly important role inturning around poor neighbourhoods.’ (SEU, 1998: 62)Policy Action Team 10 investigated how the impact of community participationin the arts and sport could impact on neighbourhood regeneration, claiming in1999 that:‘There are various distinctive contributions that the arts andsport have to offer to tackling the causes of social exclusion.’(DCMS, 1999: 28)This report identified positive benefits of the arts including: participation,personal development, and community and economic growth. The report alsoidentified obstacles facing the promotion of arts for health initiatives including:lack of co-ordination between agencies, lack of mainstream funding and thelow status of the arts. The report also called for greater ‘hard’ evidence thatthe arts and sport are beneficial, as well as which types of project are costefficient(DCMS, 1999).15