Creativity and Public Health is a collaborative project between Dr 'Funmi Adewole Elliott, founder of Enact Arts, and Dr Winifred Ekezie, Director of the Centre of Society and Health at Aston University.  Dr Adewole Elliott manages and researches the content of the project under the auspices of Enact Arts and Dr Ekezie advises on the shaping of the project, its intersection with the MA Public Health and oversees the students who attend. 

 

The idea of the collaboration started from a conversation between Dr Adewole Elliott and Dr Ekezie in which they discovered their shared passion for dance. Dr Ekezie subsequently felt a project with Enact Arts would benefit who she had found out had experiences in artistic practices such as singing, dancing and poetry alongside their careers in healthcare. 

 

Four students on the MA Public Health at the Centre of Society and Health undertook a short internship with Enact Arts, from February to June 2025. They were all trained nurses and medical doctors of African and Caribbean heritage. It took place remotely through research tasks which included the students supporting Dr Adewole Elliott in carrying out the mapping of community organisations in an area of Birmingham for a possible community project. The internship also included some training through online seminars which covered key topics such as an introduction to Creative Health, the infrastructure in the Creative Health sector, project development and community engagement. There was one in-person session which focussed on creative session planning and facilitation techniques for creative sessions. The students carried out research tasks related to key topics through out. ​

 

The pilot proved successful, with students choosing to conduct independent research on Creative Health as part of their MA degree programs.​ Creativity and Public Health is presently undergoing strategic review with a second project envisaged in mid-2026