Culture and health in France: at the core of public policies

If art and culture have historically found some place in France's health institutions, they have been rationally integrated into health public policies only since the end of the Nineties. Such integration has been achieved through close cooperation between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Culture, finalized through the signature, in 1999, of the convention Culture à l'Hopital, reinforced in 2010 by the convention Culture et Santé. Hospitals are, actually, at the heart of the matter. The article outlines the articulated system through which the decentralized structures of both ministries successfully cooperate at the regional level in jointly promoting and financially supporting special twinning agreements (jumélages) between hospitals and local cultural organizations, in order to put in place libraries, to organize «artists residencies», to facilitate all kind of cultural activities (visual and performing arts, cinema, etc...) - both inside and outside the hospital - for the relief of hospitalized persons.