The role of cultural involvement of patients for their social welfare

¹ Klaipėda University, Klaipėda, Lithuania
² Vilnius Central Outpatient Clinic, Lithuania; Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania
³ Lithuanian Social Research Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania

Abstract

Cultural involvement takes a significant role on quality of life of patients (QoL) as namely culture is an important domain for health and QoL simultaneously. Paper analyzes the possible connection between culture and health, and, attendance of patients the cultural events as one of the important dimensions of QoL. Research is based on social project “Cultural prescription”, organized by public cultural institution “Mokytojų namai” (Eng. Teacher’s House) in Vilnius and dedicated to Outpatient Clinic “Centro poliklinika” (Vilnius) patients, who were suffering from chronic disease to improve their QoL. The aim of the paper is to explore the possibilities of innovative social measures to increase social cultural engagement of patients, to contribute to their well-being, and to present the approach of health care practitioners towards the expediency and usefulness of inter-sectorial cooperation for the patients’ social welfare.