Reflecting on the social value of movement and dance

Aims:
This short report summarises the findings of a 51-page report on the social value of movement and dance in England, highlighting its contribution to public health, individual wellbeing, and community development.

Methods:
The report synthesises data from multiple sources and quantifies the social value of movement and dance.

Results:
Findings indicate that movement and dance contribute £3.5 billion in social value, including £430 million in healthcare savings and a £2.1 billion uplift in mental wellbeing. Movement and dance foster physical health benefits comparable to those of other exercise forms while providing unique psychological and social advantages.

Conclusion:
Movement and dance play vital roles in public health by preventing illness, improving mental wellbeing, and fostering community engagement. To maximise their impact, greater integration within health practices, funding, research investment, and policy engagement is needed.

© Royal Society for Public Health 2025.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).