Réalta is delighted to announce a number of upcoming arts and health training opportunities for artists, healthcare professionals, and arts and health managers. These events aim to inspire, build skills, and support best practice across the sector. Articulating Boundaries – Friday, 10 October For artists already working in healthcare settings, this programme will support artists to develop a deeper understanding of their practice, better decision-making around the scope of their work, and practical guidance around managing expectations.  Led by artist and art therapist Lucy Hyland, this professional development workshop takes place in person at the Réalta Centre for Arts + Health, University Hospital Waterford. Checking In – Tuesday, 4 November For anyone working in, or interested in, arts and health. Join us for Checking In, Réalta’s online gathering of the arts and health community in Ireland.  This event will spotlight some of the most innovative and impactful work happening across the country, offering insights and inspiration from leading practitioners. Experience: An Introduction to Arts, Health and the Older Person – Thursday, 4 December For artists and arts practitioners interested in working with older people in an arts and health context.  This intensive learning programme will feature presentations by some of the most experienced and inspiring practitioners working in this specialised field of practice.  Presented online by Réalta in partnership with Age & Opportunity. Réalta is the national resource organisation dedicated to developing arts + health in Ireland.  Réalta seeks to increase understanding and support for arts and health, and to embed the arts into healthcare provision in Ireland through training programmes; providing information, mentoring and advice; supporting networking, and...

“People living in Ireland have access to creative and cultural activity as part of a holistic health journey throughout the life course, supporting better health and wellbeing outcomes and enriching the creative and artistic landscape.” Vision statement, Strategic Action Plan for Arts and Health (2025) Réalta is delighted to welcome the publication of Ireland’s first Strategic Action Plan for Arts and Health (2025) by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport (Creative Ireland), the Department of Health (Healthy Ireland/Sláintecare), the HSE, and the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon. This Strategic Action Plan represents a significant step forward in recognising the vital role of arts and creativity in supporting public health and wellbeing. The Strategic Action Plan sets out the rationale for a joint policy approach, and outlines the steps involved in building an arts and health policy partnership in Ireland, beginning with the Memorandum of Understanding in December 2020 between the participating bodies, before setting out its clear and inclusive vision and six strategic objectives: Policy – To articulate a joint policy position on arts and health in Ireland and ensure co-ordinated input to international policy making. Evidence – To establish a research and evaluation framework for arts and health in Ireland to build the evidence base for sustainable project design and funding. Capacity – To provide training and support to equip creative and healthcare professionals to work together to embed creative and cultural activity in the health service in Ireland. Delivery – To prioritise suitable projects or pilot initiatives and design sustainable delivery mechanisms for their scaling. Governance – To design and implement governance and reporting arrangements to support a...

We at Réalta, the national resource organisation for arts + health in Ireland, wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to Maureen Kennelly as she steps down from her role as Director of the Arts Council. Maureen’s decades of experience working at all levels in the arts sector, together with her passion, commitment and vision, make her a most inspiring, compassionate, thoughtful leader.  She spearheaded so many positive developments during her tenure, which have had a beneficial impact on countless artists and arts organisations, and which will be her enduring legacy. Maureen has long been a tremendous supporter of the work of Waterford Healing Arts Trust, now Réalta, and we wish to extend our deepest appreciation for her encouragement, her energy and her unwavering support for our organisation, for arts + health, and for the wider arts sector.  We wish Maureen every health, happiness and success. 02.07.2025 Photo credit: The Arts Council / Ruth Medjber...

Réalta was thrilled to be in Belfast recently for the launch of the PAINT Policy Brief – Recommendations for Arts in Renal Care. For two years, Réalta has been a partner on the PAINT Project, a research project which involved the global mapping of arts interventions in renal care.  Led by the Renal Arts Group at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), other partners included the World Health Organisation (WHO), The Center for Arts in Medicine at the University of Florida and Consultant Nephrologist Dr Mayleen Laico from Chong Hua Hospital, Philippines. The PAINT Policy Brief recommends growing the evidence base to demonstrate the value of arts activities during renal treatment; identifying arts champions within renal settings; mapping existing provision and developing collaborations across the world. A huge thank you to our partners on this project and especially the team at QUB, Prof Helen Noble, Dr Trisha Forbes and Anna Wilson. We look forward to seeing the impact of these recommendations as we work towards embedding arts in healthcare. The full research paper A Multi-Method International Mapping Exercise of Arts Interventions in Renal Units: The PAINT Project was published recently in the Nephron Journal. Further information about the research project, and the PAINT Policy Brief – Recommendations for Arts in Renal Care can be read here: https://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/renal-arts-group/Research/PAINTProject/ Photo: Pictured at the launch of the PAINT Policy Brief at Queens University Belfast (QUB) were (l-r) Prof Helen Noble, QUB; William Johnston, poet & renal dialysis patient; Claire Meaney, Director of Réalta; Jim McCaughan, Chair of the Northern Ireland Kidney Research Fund; Dr Trisha Forbes, Research Fellow at QUB; Stephen Greer, Renal Arts...