About

+Culture Shots is a week-long series of taster events run by museums and galleries that are designed specifically for health professionals. Planned to fit around the busy working day, these short sessions (some are ‘drop-in’ – just stay for a minute or two; others are twenty or thirty minutes long) take place at all five hospitals sites: Manchester Royal Infirmary, The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Saint Mary’s Hospital, Manchester Royal Eye Hospital and University Dental Hospital of Manchester. With over seventy events to choose from, there’s enough to pique every interest: from photography to drama, drawing to watercolour painting, children’s activities to printmaking, knitting and theatre to conservation of objects – there are even workshops featuring live animal handling, wild food foraging and banner building.

How does culture make a difference?

Cultural experiences can help improve health and wellbeing, and can result in benefits that range from the physiological to the emotional. From reduced heart rates and requests for analgesia, to a reduction in the sense of loneliness felt by those suffering from mental ill-health, cultural experiences have been proven to help improve the lives of patients and those who care for them. Cultural experiences have even been linked to longer life expectancy.

Culture Shots, your chance to find out why culture works, and how you can use the expertise within Manchester’s museums and galleries to improve your professional practice, and your patients’ health and wellbeing. We think culture matters, and hope that by the end of the Museums and Galleries Week, you will too.