Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust

International partners from seven countries had worked on this project for over three years to increase the use of the arts in the treatment of long-term conditions. The TABLO project brought together representatives from seven countries to develop an e-learning toolkit of vocational training which will help integrate arts into every day physical and mental healthcare when working with people who have long term conditions. Recognising that there is much research and evidence that supports the use of the arts having a profoundly positive effect on peoples mental and physical health and wellbeing, this project aimed to educate and share ideas that would enable professionals, carers and others, to use arts as part of the support they provide to individuals. The objective of this project was to develop a new online e-learning package to enable staff to learn new skills to be able to offer patients arts-based therapeutic activities. The main activity undertaken was the creation of the online e-learning package. The package brings together e-learning chapters on 14 different health conditions, their characteristics and how they affect a person’s life, together with more than 400 arts-based activities for use by professionals and carers. A total of 8 organisations took part in the project, all working collaboratively, and bringing together their expertise: a university public health team (evaluation and quality control); an NHS mental health service provider; an organisation working with patients with specific conditions (autism); experts in arts therapy and non-verbal communication; an adult education provider; a regional municipality responsible for healthcare; a national mental health association and an e-learning development expert.