Announcing the launch of the Arts and Health Evaluation Toolkit

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our preliminary evaluation toolkit – Arts and Health Evaluation Toolkit (AHET) a free, digital resource designed to provide Arts and Health practitioners with guidance on conducting rigorous outcome evaluation of their programmes and interventions.

Unveiled today at a packed launch session at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, NUS, the toolkit was met with enthusiasm from professionals across the field. At 104 pages, it is practically an e-book – and it is completely free to access.

For more information about the AHET project, and to download the toolkit for free, please click HERE.

The toolkit is the result of many months of collaborative effort, spearheaded by the Centre for Music and Health’s dedicated team of staff, researchers, and students. The project is led by Dr Kat Agres (Principal Investigator), in collaboration with Dr Jean Liu (Co-Investigator) and Dr Nisha Sajnani (Collaborator).

What is the motivation for creating this toolkit?

As the arts and health field grows, so does the demand for rigorous, consistent evaluation. This toolkit was developed to help address that gap by offering guidance on conducting robust evaluations of arts and health programmes, best practices and practical advice on study design and validated tools, coverage of outcomes such as mental health, wellbeing, social connection, and physical health, and a hands-on interactive format in a clear, practitioner-friendly tone.

What’s next?

The field of arts and health has been growing at an exponential rate. More recently, there has been growing interest in how culture and heritage affect our health, wellbeing, and connection to others. As a result, we are expanding AHET into a larger resource called the THRivE Toolkit (Tools for Health Research and Evaluation in Arts and Heritage). This resource will integrate heritage and include additional chapters such as data analysis and dissemination. This is set to launch at Healing Arts Singapore this December! More details at: https://healingartssingapore.org

To facilitate adoption of the THRivE toolkit, we will be offering consultation opportunities throughout 2026 for a limited number of arts and heritage organisations and stakeholders interested in implementing the toolkit to evaluate their programmes. If you are interested in working with us, please reach out via email (cmh@nus.edu.sg) to express your interest and learn more.

This project was made possible with support from the National Arts Council (NAC) and Tote Board of Singapore.