In the context of the pandemic that tests the resilience of each of us, Cluj Cultural Centre proposed the Culture Pill for Well-being – an online platform that assesses the emotional state and offers customized cultural recommendations. The recommendations selected by a team of curators were adapted to the emotional states of the participants and included music, literature, film, visual arts and theatre. This programme also aimed to measure the impact of the cultural recommendations on people’s emotional states.
From October to December 2021, through online communication actions, people were encouraged to access the platform and to fill in the online form in order to receive customized cultural recommendations by email. During this period, 1200 people accessed the platform and 599 enthusiasts filled in the form and received specific cultural content to be consumed. At the end of this period, all participants received another online form which evaluated their state and emotions after the consumption, and also investigated the relevance of the cultural content and future directions for platform development. The post consumption form was filled in by 64 participants who initially engaged in the programme.
Culture Pill for Well-being results:
- Most of the participants in the programme were women – 81.47%.
- The platform was most frequently accessed by young people aged between 19-24 (22.87%) and 36-45 (27.05%), but a wide spectrum of ages was identified within the participants.
- Top preferences for the type of cultural content asked for recommendations: 1) literature (27.47%), 2) film (26.64%), 3) music (19.91%), 4) visual arts (13.56% ) and 5) theater / dance (12.62%).
- Out of the 599 participants who benefited from the Culture Pill for Well-being programme: 13.69% felt very well, 49.75% felt good, 4.67% neutral, 29.55% felt bad and only 2.34% felt very bad.
- Out of the 599 participants who engaged in the programme, only 64 responded to the post-consumption evaluation form: 64.06% felt very good, 18.75% felt good, 10.94% neutral, 6.25% felt bad and nobody felt very bad.
- For those 64 participants who filled in the evaluation form before and after consumption, a comparison on their states was made. It seems that the percentage of people who felt bad before has decreased after cultural consumption. It is noticeable that the percentage of those who felt good also decreased, but the percentage of those who felt very good increased by more than 50%.
- 69% of the participants considered that the recommendation was appropriate or very appropriate for their cultural preferences.
- 70% of the participants considered that the recommendation was appropriate or very appropriate for their emotional state.
- For 75% of participants, the consumption experience had a positive effect on them.
- The experience helped most of the respondents to enrich their knowledge, to experience amazement, beauty, to reflect on their life and to access a state of calm, energy.
- The probability of participating in a cultural event in the near future is over 50%.
- Over 80% of participants recommended the experience to other acquaintances.
Words associated with the experience:
Love. I would have liked the “pill” to be recurrent, once a month or more often.
A moment of introspection.
A temporary state of well-being.
Unusual, useful, self-knowledge.
I find it an innovative and interesting idea, but it still needs to be improved in implementation.
Some time after the first completion, I filled out the questionnaire again and suggested the same video, so it may be necessary to add more material.
I empathize a lot with what was proposed to me.
General knowledge.
Cluj Cultural Centre aims to use the results of this pilot initiative to develop a more sustainable and improved online platform oriented towards bringing customized cultural experiences based on the people’s emotional states.
The Culture Pill for Well-being initiative was developed within the Art & Well-being Project, in collaboration with the Centre’s Academy of Change, and carried out in partnership with the Babeş-Bolyai PsyTech University Psychology Clinic, Bookstory, TIFF Unlimited.
