Top

BMC Public Health

Published in:

Open Access 01-12-2021 | Research

Associations between neighbourhood deprivation and engagement in arts, culture and heritage: evidence from two nationally-representative samples

Authors: Hei Wan Mak, Rory Coulter, Daisy Fancourt

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2021

Abstract

Background

Previous research has shown the benefits of arts and cultural engagement for physical, mental and social wellbeing. This engagement is socially and geographically patterned. Yet it remains unclear whether place-based attributes are associated with engagement behaviour independent of individual factors. Therefore, the aim of this cross-sectional study was to robustly disentangle associations between geographical deprivation and arts engagement from the individual socio-demographic factors that tend to correlate with residential locations.

Methods

Two different samples drawn from two representative surveys of adults living in England were compared – Understanding Society Wave 2 (2010/12) (N = 14,782) and Taking Part survey (2010/11) (N = 4575). Propensity score matching (PSM) was applied to investigate the association between neighbourhood deprivation (20% most deprived vs 20% least deprived) and arts engagement (arts participation, cultural attendance and museums and heritage engagement).

Results

Higher levels of neighbourhood deprivation were associated with lower arts, culture and heritage engagement independent of individuals’ demographic backgrounds, socio-economic characteristics and regional locations. When exploring subcategories of deprivation, similar results were obtained across deprivation domains. Results were also consistent when using more distinct categories of deprivation (i.e. 10% most deprived vs 10% least deprived) and when comparing people living in the 20% most deprived neighbourhoods with those living in the 40% medium-deprived areas.

Conclusion

This study is the first to apply a robust PSM technique to examine the association between neighbourhood deprivation and arts engagement using two nationally-representative samples. Results show that neighbourhood deprivation may act as a barrier that could prevent people from engaging in the arts, which in turn may exacerbate social and health inequalities. This highlights the importance of place-based schemes that focus on increasing individual motivation and capacity to engage in arts and cultural activities, especially in areas of high deprivation.

Available only for authorised users

Fancourt D, Finn S. What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and wellbeing? A scroping review. 2019. Health evidence Network & World Health Organization Europe. Avilable from: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/329834/9789289054553-eng.pdf.

Mak HW, Fancourt D. Reading for pleasure in childhood and adolescent healthy behaviours: longitudinal associations using the millennium cohort study. Prev Med. 2020 Jan;1:130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2019.105889.CrossRef

Renton A, Phillips G, Daykin N, Yu G, Taylor K, Petticrew M. Think of your art-eries: arts participation, behavioural cardiovascular risk factors and mental well-being in deprived communities in London. Public Health. 2012;126:S57–64. Available from:. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2012.05.025.CrossRefPubMed

Mak HW, Fancourt D. Longitudinal associations between reading for pleasure and child maladjustment: results from a propensity score matching analysis. Soc Sci Med. 2020 May 1;253:112971. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112971.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Mak HW, Fancourt D. Arts engagement and self-esteem in children: results from a propensity score matching analysis. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2019;1449(1):36–45. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14056.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Cohen GD, Perlstein S, Chapline J, Kelly J, Firth KM, Simmens S. The impact of professionally conducted cultural programs on the physical health, mental health, and social functioning of older adults. Gerontologis. 2006;46(6):726–34. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/46.6.726.CrossRef

Fancourt D, Steptoe A. Cultural engagement and mental health: does socio-economic status explain the association ? Soc Sci med. 2019;236:112425. Available from. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112425.

Haner D, Pepler D, Cummings J, Rubin-Vaughan A. The role of arts-based curricula in bullying prevention: Elijah’s kite—a children’s opera. Can J Sch Psychol. 2010;25(1):55–69. https://doi.org/10.1177/0829573509349031.CrossRef

Poscia A, Stojanovic J, La Milia DI, Duplaga M, Grysztar M, Moscato U, et al. Interventions targeting loneliness and social isolation among the older people: an update systematic review. Exp Gerontol. 2018;102:133–44. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2017.11.017, 2018.

10.

Fancourt D, Steptoe A. The art of life and death: 14 year follow-up analyses of associations between arts engagement and mortality in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. BMJ. 2009;367(16377). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l6377

11.

Mak HW, Coulter R, Fancourt D. Patterns of social inequality in arts and cultural participation: findings from a nationally-representative sample of adults living in the UK. WHO Public Heal Panor. 2020;6(1):55–68.

12.

Devine P, Dowds L. Understanding society: culture , arts and leisure in the UK regions. Final Report April 2013. ARK Northern Ireland. 2013. Avilable from: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/warwickcreativeexchange/resources/understanding_society_dcal_report.pdf

13.

Mak HW, Coulter R, Fancourt D. Does arts and cultural engagement vary geographically? Evidence from the UK household longitudinal study. Public Health. 2020;185:119–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2020.04.029.CrossRefPubMed

14.

Widdop P, Cutts D. Cultural trends impact of place on museum participation. Cult Trends. 2012;21(1):47–66. Available from: https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ccut20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09548963.2012.641775.CrossRef

15.

Bourdieu P. Cultural reproduction and social reproduction. In: Brown R, editor. Knowledge, Education, and Cultural Change: Papers in the Sociology of Education. London: Tavistock; 1973/ p.71–112.

16.

Bourdieu P. Distinction: a social critique of the judgement of taste. Vol. 112. USA: Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; 1984. p.211–212.

17.

Kallunki J, Purhonen S. Intergenerational transmission of cultural capital in Finland. Res Finnish Soc. 2017;10(1):101–11. https://doi.org/10.51815/fjsr.110769.CrossRef

18.

Evans G. Participation and provision in arts & culture – bridging the divide. Cult Trends. 2016;25(1):2–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09548963.2015.1135528.CrossRef

19.

Keaney E. Understanding arts audiences: existing data and what it tells us. Cult Trends. 2008;17(2):97–113. Available from: https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ccut20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09548960802090642.CrossRef

20.

Galster GC. The mechanism(s) of neighbourhood effects: theory, evidence, and policy implications. In: van Ham M, Manley D, Bailey N, Simpson L, Maclennan D, editors. Neighbourhood effects research: new perspectives. Netherlands: Springer; 2012. p. 23–56. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2309-2_2.CrossRef

21.

Bunting C, Chan TW, Goldthorpe J, Keaney E, Oskala A. From indifference to enthusiasm: patterns of arts attendance in England. 2008. Arts Council England. Avilable from: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.148.6877&rep=rep1&type=pdf

22.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The Culture White Paper. London; 2016. Available from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/510798/DCMS_The_Culture_White_Paper__3_.pdf

23.

Arts Council England. Creative People and Places. Available from: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/get-funding/creative-people-and-places

24.

Drinkwater C, Wildman J. Moffatt S. Social prescribing. 2019;364(l1285):1–5. Available from:. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l1285.CrossRef

25.

The Social Prescribing Network. The Social Prescribing Network. Available from: https://www.socialprescribingnetwork.com/

26.

NHS England. Social prescribing. Available from: https://www.england.nhs.uk/personalisedcare/social-prescribing/

27.

Creative People and Places - Engaging Communities in the Arts. 2017. Available from: https://www.creativepeopleplaces.org.uk/sites/default/files/EcorysCaseStudyCPP_IdeasTest.pdf

28.

Gilmore A. Cultural trends cold spots, crap towns and cultural deserts: the role of place and geography in cultural participation and creative place-making. Cult Trends. 2013;22(2):86–96. Available from: https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ccut20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09548963.2013.783174.CrossRef

29.

Guo S, Fraser MW. Propensity score analysis: statistical methods and applications. USA: Sage Publications, Inc.; 2015.

30.

Rosenbaum PR, Rubin DB. The central role of the propensity score in observational studies for causal effects. Biometrika. 1983;70(1):41–55. Available from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2335942%5Cnhttp://about.jstor.org/terms, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/biomet/70.1.41

31.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Taking Part Survey. 2016. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/taking-part-survey

32.

Buck N, Mcfall S. Understanding society: design overview. Longit Life Course Stud. 2012;3(1):5–17.

33.

Office for National Statistics. Changes to output areas and super output areas in England and Wales, 2001 to 2011. 2012.

34.

Office for National Statistics. Census geography. 2011. Available from: https://www.ons.gov.uk/methodology/geography/ukgeographies/censusgeography#output-area-oa

35.

TNS-BMRB. Taking Part: England’s survey of leisure, culture and sport (Year 6, 2010–11) - Technical Report. 2009.

36.

Kontopantelis E, Mamas MA, Van Marwijk H, Ryan AM, Buchan IE, Ashcroft DM, et al. Geographical epidemiology of health and overall deprivation in England, its changes and persistence from 2004 to 2015: a longitudinal spatial population study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2018 Feb 1;72(2):140–7. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2017-209999.CrossRefPubMed

37.

Department for Communities and Local Government. The English Indices of Deprivation 2015. London; 2015. Available from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/465791/English_Indices_of_Deprivation_2015_-_Statistical_Release.pdf

38.

Brookhart MA, Schneeweiss S, Rothman KJ, Glynn RJ, Avorn J, Stürmer T. Variable selection for propensity score models. Am J Epidemiol. 2006;163(12):1149–56. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwj149.CrossRefPubMed

39.

Caliendo M, Kopeinig S. Some practical guidance for the implementation of propensity score matching. DIW Discuss Pap. 2008;485(1):1–29. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6419.2007.00527.x.CrossRef

40.

Rubin DB. Using propensity scores to help design observational studies: application to the tobacco litigation. Heal Serv Outcomes Res Methodol. 2001;2(3–4):169–88. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020363010465.CrossRef

41.

Parkinson A, Buttrick J, Wallis A. Equality and diversity within the arts and cultural sector in England: Evidence and literature review final report. 2014. Consilium Research & Consultancy and Arts Council England. Available from: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/download-file/Equality_and_diversity_within_the_arts_and_cultural_sector_in_England_0.pdf

42.

Jann B. Kernel matching with automatic bandwidth selection. 2017 London Stata Users Group meeting 2017. Available from: https://www.stata.com/meeting/uk17/slides/uk17_Jann.pdf, Creating HTML or Markdown Documents from within Stata using Webdoc, 17, 1, 2038, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867X1701700102

43.

Morgan SL, Harding DJ. Matching estimators of causal effects prospects and pitfalls in theory and practice. Sociol Methods Res Sage Publ. 2006;35(10). Available from: http://smr.sagepub.com

44.

Galdo J, Smith JA, Black D. Bandwidth selection and the estimation of treatment effects with unbalanced data. Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES. 2008;91–92:189–216.

45.

Ali MS, Prieto-Alhambra D, Lopes LC, Ramos D, Bispo N, Ichihara MY, et al. Propensity score methods in health technology assessment: principles, extended applications, and recent advances. Front Pharmacol. 2019;10:973. Available from: www.frontiersin.org. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2019.00973.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

46.

Ho DE, Imai K, King G, Stuart EA, Abadie A, Beck N, et al. Matching as nonparametric preprocessing for reducing model dependence in parametric causal inference. Polit Anal. 2007;15(3):199–236. Available from: http://gking.harvard.edu/. https://doi.org/10.1093/pan/mpl013.CrossRef

47.

Duncan DT, Kawachi I. Neighborhoods and health. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press; 2018.CrossRef

48.

Whitaker S. Hurdles to the participation of children, families and young people in museums: a literature museum. Kids in Museums and Arts council England. 2016; Available from: https://kidsinmuseums.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Hurdles-to-Participation.pdf.

49.

2015 English IMD explorer. Available from: http://dclgapps.communities.gov.uk/imd/idmap.html

50.

Map of Museums in Britain. Available from: https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/Museums/

51.

World Heritage Sites – UNESCO in the UK. Available from: https://www.unesco.org.uk/world-heritage-sites/

52.

Elsley S, McMellon C. Starting young? Scottish Givernment Social Research: Links between childhood and adult participation in culture and science-a literature review; 2010. Available from: www.scotland.gov.uk/socialresearch

53.

Boardman JD, Finch BK, Ellison CG, Williams DR, Jackson JS. Neighborhood disadvantage, stress, and drug use among adults. J Health Soc Behav. 2001;42(2):151–65. https://doi.org/10.2307/3090175.CrossRefPubMed

54.

McElroy E, McIntyre JC, Bentall RP, Wilson T, Holt K, Kullu C, et al. Mental health, deprivation, and the neighborhood social environment: a network analysis. Clin Psychol Sci. 2019;7(4):719–34. Available from:. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702619830640.CrossRef

55.

Fancourt D, Mak HW. What barriers do people experience to engaging in the arts? Structural equation modelling of the relationship between individual characteristics and capabilities, opportunities, and motivations to engage. PLoS One. 2020;15(3):e0230487. Available from:. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230487.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Title: Associations between neighbourhood deprivation and engagement in arts, culture and heritage: evidence from two nationally-representative samples
Authors: Hei Wan Mak
Rory Coulter
Daisy Fancourt
Publication date: 01-12-2021
Publisher: BioMed Central
Published in: BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2021
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11740-6

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Associations between neighbourhood deprivation and engagement in arts, culture and heritage: evidence from two nationally-representative samples

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2021

Relationship between dietary carbohydrate quality index and metabolic syndrome among type 2 diabetes mellitus subjects: a case-control study from Ghana

Trend on dental caries status and its risk indicators in children aged 12 years in China: a multilevel analysis based on the repeated national cross-sectional surveys in 2005 and 2015

Late initiation of antiretroviral therapy: inequalities by educational level despite universal access to care and treatment

Determinants of the quality of life amongst HIV clinic attendees in Malang, Indonesia

Associations of diet, physical activity and polycystic ovary syndrome in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Women’s Study

Reducing physical and emotional violence by teachers using the intervention Interaction Competencies with Children – for Teachers (ICC-T): study protocol of a multi-country cluster randomized controlled trial in Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda