Power of Culture Blog
$870,000 Awarded to 58 State-Designated Cultural Districts
This funding to Massachusetts cities and towns encourages the development and success of their Cultural Districts
Manager of Advancement and Strategic Partnerships
“Social prescribing is a personalized, community-driven approach to care that addresses the social determinants of health by connecting individuals with non-clinical supports and services within their community. This approach is based on the idea that an individual’s health is directly related to their connection to the community in which they live, work, and grow.” – A Healthier Canada (2024 report)
In 2020 Mass Cultural Council launched its social prescription work, the first program in the United States that supported doctors and professional care providers in writing prescriptions to arts organizations as part of treatment plans for patients in Springfield and the Berkshires.
Drawing on the rich community of arts and culture in Massachusetts, this program re-imagined the sector as a vehicle for the health and well-being of residents at a time when health care costs and workforce shortages were making services inaccessible to many.
In 2023, after three years of successful pilots, the Agency partnered with Art Pharmacy, a health services company based in Atlanta, to scale this work across the Commonwealth.
Through that collaboration, Art Pharmacy and Mass Cultural Council launched the first statewide arts prescription program in the United States, creating a new revenue stream for organizations and artists and making the practice of social prescription more accessible to residents.
Since that announcement, the number of providers and insurance companies supporting the arts as a part of patient treatment plans has been growing steadily. Art Pharmacy has grown a network of more than 400 cultural organizations that have signed up to be a part of the social prescription work. In addition, they have contracted with two statewide health insurance companies that are paying for arts prescriptions as part of patient treatment plans.
As part of this ongoing work, Mass General Brigham has also implemented arts prescriptions in affiliated community health clinics to address hypertension through a population health program and at least one private practice has contracted with Art Pharmacy to provide prescriptions to their patients.
Data collection in Massachusetts is ongoing as the program grows. The data that is currently available is extremely promising. Art Pharmacy reported the following outcomes and impact in Massachusetts for patients receiving an arts prescription:
Art Pharmacy is also collecting stories from patients who are demonstrating the power of arts prescriptions, particularly around the capacity of the arts to alleviate social isolation, which has a remarkable effect on a person’s overall health. According to a 2010 study, “lacking social connection is the equivalent of smoking up to 15 cigarettes per day.”
“I’ve really been loving these engagements and shows you’ve been sending me to, I never knew Fall River was so cultured and had so many performances! It’s been really interesting to learn about the area….it gets me out of the house and it’s great,” said a patient from Fall River.
The practice of social prescribing is relatively new in the United States but has a longer track record in other countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom. Last year a report by the Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing and Canadian Red Cross, A Healthier Canada: An Analysis of the Potential Economic and Social Impacts of Social Prescribing, measured the economic impact of social prescribing in that country. In a time of spiraling healthcare costs, this data supports the investments being made in social prescription by identifying significant cost savings with the practice.
According to the report, a savings of $4.43 is achieved for every dollar invested in social prescribing to address social isolation and loneliness amongst health plan members with chronic illness.
Additional estimated savings in the report include:
As arts prescription continues to grow in Massachusetts to reach more and more patients, we will continue to report out on the data and stories from a program that we anticipate will have a significant impact on lowering patient costs and making healthcare more accessible.
In the meantime, if you are interested in getting involved in the program as a community partner you can connect with Art Pharmacy.
