Community Jameel Saudi Foundation Partners With Health Authority to Bring Arts Into Mental Healthcare
Community Jameel Saudi Foundation Partners With Health Authority to Bring Arts Into Mental Healthcare
MoU with National Centre for Mental Health Promotion targets evidence-based arts integration across the Kingdom
Saudi Arabia’s healthcare system is taking a formal step toward incorporating the arts as a tool for mental health support. The Community Jameel Saudi Foundation, the National Centre for Mental Health Promotion, and the Jameel Arts and Health Lab have signed a memorandum of understanding to embed evidence-based arts strategies into mainstream mental health services in the Kingdom.
Under the agreement, the three organizations will develop mental health, culture, and arts training courses for healthcare providers. The goal is to improve quality of life for individuals and raise awareness among clinicians of how arts practice can support healthcare delivery, directly backing Saudi Vision 2030’s Health Sector Transformation program.
The Jameel Arts and Health Lab was launched in 2023 by the World Health Organization, the NYU Steinhardt School, Community Jameel, and CULTURUNNERS. Community Jameel is an international organization founded by Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel KBE. The Lab’s mission centers on driving the integration of arts into healthcare globally. In October 2025, it unveiled a photo essay as the first installment of the Jameel Arts and Health Lab-Lancet Global Series on the Health Benefits of the Arts, presented at the Global Health Forum in Riyadh. More on the Jameel family’s broader arts patronage is covered in a profile of Fady Jameel’s Chevalier honor in the French Order of Arts and Letters.
The MoU builds on a December 2025 training course delivered at Hayy Jameel in Jeddah — the first arts-in-health training program held in Saudi Arabia — which brought together 40 participants from the mental healthcare sector. The session was developed with New York University, one of the Lab’s founding partners.
Stephen Stapleton, co-director of the Jameel Arts and Health Lab, described the agreement as a commitment to systemic change, ensuring that evidence-based and culturally responsive skills are embedded directly within Saudi Arabia’s healthcare sector. Dr. AbdulHameed Alhabeeb, general manager of the National Centre for Mental Health Promotion, cited the importance of localizing international best practices in mental healthcare and the role of independent, nonprofit initiatives in advancing that work.
