take heART

About us

take heART was formed in July 2021 by a group of like-minded staff members who are all passionate about increasing the availability of the arts for our patients, visitors and staff.

In 2001, the King’s Fund launched a programme entitled ‘Enhancing the Healing Environment’ (EHE), which demonstrated substantial evidence that implementing visual arts into healthcare settings significantly improves patient and staff outcomes and wellbeing.

The benefits of the arts on health and wellbeing can include alleviated anxiety and a reduction in the need for medication in certain areas of mental illness. Further, it is proven that visually pleasant environments can significantly improve the way people feel.

take heART was formed as a result of this, with key aims of the project being:

  1. To support and enhance the wellbeing of patients, visitors and staff within our hospitals through the arts
  2. To use the arts as a means of fostering relationships between our hospitals and the communities they serve
  3. To encourage parity in the provision of visual arts across both of our hospital sites

If you have any feedback, ideas, or want to find out more information about how to support this, you can email us at takeheart@ldh.nhs.uk, or donate via our JustGiving page.