By Jill Pease
Alexandra Rodriguez, M.P.H., believes that a painting, a poem or a piece of music can do more than move us — it can mend us. As a University of Florida Ph.D. student exploring how creative engagement supports mental health, she is helping lead a growing global movement that positions the arts as a vital part of living well.
Her work has given Rodriguez, a doctoral student in public health with a concentration in social and behavioral sciences at the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions, an international platform for championing arts and public health. She recently co-authored a World Health Organization report on arts and health in the U.S. She also chaired the session on arts and youth mental health at the United Nations General Assembly Healing Arts Week in September in New York City.
Connecting arts and health is not a new idea, Rodriguez said. It has been linked to many cultures for thousands of years. In the past few decades, however, scientists have been building the evidence base that arts participation has real health benefits.
“Epidemiological studies have shown that arts engagement is correlated with lower risks of developing depression, cognitive decline and chronic pain, while also enhancing psychological and social well-being,” Rodriguez said. “One study found that older adults who did creative hobbies at least monthly were 20% less likely to be depressed than those older adults who never engaged in creative art forms.”
Changing public perception
While many people think that arts participation only involves painting, drawing and other classic mediums, any type of craftsmanship or engagement in art forms — from music to literature to film — can offer benefits, Rodriguez said.
In an opinion piece in the journal PLOS Mental Health, Rodriguez advocated for arts-based approaches to help address the national need for mental health support, while also sharing her story of how the arts played a role in her own healing from severe anxiety and depression.
“Having had this deeply personal experience with arts engagement supporting my own mental health has further shaped my perspective in this work. It also reinforces my commitment to expanding access to arts-based support for others,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez is gaining skills in policy development and implementation as the first UF student to be named a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholar and as a Student Think Tank Board Member for the American Journal of Public Health. Her work as a graduate research associate with UF’s EpiArts Lab and the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, two top organizations in arts and health research, has led to her contributing to numerous policy reports and becoming an in-demand speaker for national lectures, webinars and podcasts.
Blazing a trail
Rodriguez’s accomplishments as a Ph.D. student rival those of someone much further along in their career, said her mentors, George Hack, Ph.D., PHHP associate dean for education, and Jill Sonke, Ph.D., director of research initiatives for the UF Center for Arts in Medicine and a research professor in the UF College of the Arts.
“Alex is functioning as a professional from her perch as a student, undoubtedly. She brings this amazing secret sauce of passion, curiosity, tenacity, determination and courage, and she’s just brilliant and competent,” Sonke said. “She is recognized as having the ability to be a collaborator in a research project, to be a co-author and to have an important voice in policy conversations around how the arts can impact population health, community health and individual health.”
Rodriguez’s dissertation research is focused on mobilizing arts and mental health policy in the U.S. It is informed by interviews with artists, municipal leaders, public health practitioners and others engaged in arts and mental health. Along with these stakeholders, Rodriguez is leading the creation of an online class on arts and health advocacy that will be offered by Rutgers University through the ACCESS: Arts & Culture for Community Health education series.
Rodriguez’s leadership abilities make this a natural fit, Hack said.
“Alex has a way of making everyone she is working with feel valued, and that will continue to serve her well for years to come,” Hack said. “I don’t yet know all the great things she will do, but I know she’s going to impact health outcomes, policy and the well-being of individuals and groups. She’s going to leave a large footprint in her career.”