IAM Lab releases Impact Thinking

Everything is aesthetic. The environments in which we live and work, the sounds we hear, sights we see, and smells we encounter are the pathways through which we experience the world around us. And aesthetics is so much more than enjoying beautiful things. The uniquely human response to aesthetics constantly influences our mental and emotional states.

Today, as the incidence of chronic disease and depression, anxiety, and stress rise, and the gaps in health, wellbeing, and learning outcomes expand, we turn most frequently to the medical profession for traditional and pharmaceutical solutions. Despite great advances, these approaches still fall short in offering preventive, non-invasive, timely, and sustainable solutions. What if we could incorporate other interventions that are engaging, empowering, and affordable?

Today, the IAM Lab is releasing “Impact Thinking,“ a consensus framework for documenting, disseminating, and scaling evidence-based arts + mind approaches to health, wellbeing, and learning. Developed with the input of more than 30 brain scientists, artists, architects, and designers, Impact Thinking is an important first step to building a unified field focused on impact.

There is much promising evidence that a variety of arts approaches work to improve mobility, mental health, speech, memory, pain, and learning, potentially improving outcomes and lowering the cost and burden of chronic disease and neurological disorders for millions of people. Read on for more on the case for the arts, the need for a translation approach, and the eight-step Impact Thinking model.