Visiting a museum or art gallery for just one hour a month could significantly improve people's physical and mental health, according to a new report that calls for cultural engagement to become as routine as exercise and healthy eating. The research, commissioned by the charity Art Fund in partnership with University College London professor Daisy Fancourt, recommends that people spend at least sixty minutes with art in museums and galleries every month.

The report, titled The Recommended Dose of Art: A Prescription for Health and Wellbeing, draws together scientific evidence suggesting that regular cultural engagement can reduce stress, improve cognitive health and potentially extend life expectancy. It frames museum visiting not as a leisure luxury but as a low-cost public health measure, arguing that the benefits are measurable and that the prescription is simple enough for almost anyone to follow.

The gap between the recommendation and reality, however, is wide. A survey of 2,000 UK adults carried out for the report found that 89% fail to meet the proposed target, equivalent to an estimated 49.5 million people. The finding suggests that the barrier is not cost alone — many UK museums offer free entry — but habit, time and the sense that galleries are not for everyone.

For the museum sector, the report offers a new argument for its public value at a moment when cultural budgets are under pressure. If an hour of art a month can be presented as a health intervention with evidence behind it, museums gain a case for funding that goes beyond tourism and education. Whether the prescription changes behaviour is another question, but the report's authors hope that giving culture a recommended dose, like exercise, will make the habit easier to adopt.