Social Prescription
Research & Resources
Definitions of Social Prescription Arts, Culture, and Health
“Social Prescription Pilot” was the name of our initial initiative, which was the first statewide arts-in-prescription program in the US. We are now using the term “Arts on Prescription” to describe efforts related to prescribing cultural engagement, because it more directly describes the practice of referring patients and clients to arts/culture/nature. By contrast, the term “social prescription” is used more globally to include all community-based referrals that a provider might make – including to food banks, support groups, housing assistance, etc.
According to the Center for Disease Control, the term arts and culture refers to the wide range of cultural identities, traditions, and creative expressions that exist in communities. It includes art forms such as music, dance, spoken word, painting, and theater, as well as graphic design, culinary arts, spiritual practices, and celebrations of local places and histories. Arts and cultural activities take place in arts and cultural centers, schools, libraries, homes, places of worship, local businesses, in parks, and on streets.
In 1946 the World Health Organization (WHO) defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” (Read more: From Absence to Presence: Arts and Culture Help Us Redefine “Health”)
For further definitions: Defining “Arts Participation” for Public Health Research
Intro to the Intersections of Arts, Culture, and Health
“People who engage in the arts every few months, such as going to the theatre or to a museum, have a 31% lower risk of dying early when compared with those who don’t. Even if you bring arts into your live only once or twice a year, you lower mortality risk by 14%. The arts literally help you live longer.” – Magsamen and Ross
- Arts on Prescription: A Field Guide for US Communities offers a roadmap for communities to develop programs that formally integrate arts, culture, and nature resources into local health and social care systems. This field guide was created in partnership between Mass Cultural Council, University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine, and Dr. Tasha Golden. Learn more.
- How “Arts on prescription” could change the course of healthcare – Q&A with IAM Lab’s Director of Research, Tasha Golden, PhD.
- Your Brain On Art: How the Arts Transform Us, Susan Magsamen, and Ivy Ross, 2023
WATCH: What is social prescribing?
WATCH: NEA Chair, Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, in Health and Well-being Matter: a Discussion on the Intersections Between Art and Health (with reference to the 7 Vital Conditions for Well-Being)
Organizations and Initiatives in the US
Organizations
- Center for Arts in Medicine (CAM) at University of Florida with national research on arts and health
- NOAH: National Organization for Arts in Health. 2017 Arts, Health, and Well-Being in America
- The EpiArts Lab: Exploring the impact of arts and cultural engagement on population health outcomes in the US through epidemiological analyses of US cohort studies
- International Arts and Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins Medicine
- Arts and Health, State of RI, Department of Health, State Arts and Health Plan
Initiatives
- Social Prescribing USA Network
- Art Pharmacy
- The New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s Arts & Well-Being Initiative (NJPAC) is collaborating with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBS)
- UJA Federation, New York, Isolation to Connection program
- Parks Rx America: Evidence briefs demonstrating the role of nature on health and wellbeing
- Social prescription in the US: A pilot evaluation of Mass Cultural Council’s “CultureRx”. Front Public Health (2022)
Arts & Culture’s Effects on Health
- What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being? A scoping review. World Health Organization.
- NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative: Advancing the Science of Arts, Health, and Wellbeing summary and full report.
- Creating Healthy Communities: Arts + Public Health in America.
- Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the healing effects of social connection and community.
- Associations of Social, Cultural, and Community Engagement With Health Care Utilization in the US Health and Retirement Study. JAMA.
- CDC partners with UF Center for Arts in Medicine to increase vaccine confidence through arts and culture.
- Arts & Culture in Public Health Framework
- Art & Well-Being: Toward a Culture of Health
- Sound Health Music and Wellness
WATCH: Why Medicine Needs Art
WATCH: Arts and Public Health – Daisy Fancourt/Serious Science
Health Equity, Social Drivers of Health, and Anti-Racism Resources
- Social determinants of health
- The Arts and Health Equity: Four Opportunities for Impact
- Achieving Health Equity. RWJ.
- Advancing Health Equity: Guide on Language, Narrative and Concepts.
- Social determinants of health 101 for health care: Five plus five and 201: for Health Care: Plan, Do, Study, Act
- Aiding the Evolution of Art Museums to Reflect the Diversity of Our Country
- Flies in the Buttermilk: Museums, Diversity, and the Will to Change
- Anti-Racism Arts Response
- Anti Racism Resource List from Harvard
- UC Berkeley: Othering and Belonging Institute
- 11 Suggested Actions Towards Anti-Racism
International Resources for Arts & Culture Social Prescribing
- Global developments in social prescribing. BMJ Global Health.
- What is social prescribing? The Kings Fund
- Creative Health: The Arts for Health and Well-being (from the UK)
- Establishing Internationally Accepted Conceptual and Operational Definitions of Social Prescribing Through Expert Consensus: A Delphi Study
- The Social Biobehavioural Research Group at University College London and the summaries and briefings from this work
- Canadian institute for social prescribing: and Canadian Pilot info
- Social Prescribing Network and What does successful social prescribing look like? Mapping meaningful outcomes
- Denmark and social prescription
WATCH: Arts should be available on prescription
Effects of Arts & Culture on Specific Health Concerns
- The use of music in the treatment and management of serious mental illness: A global scoping review of the literature
- Arts and Culture: A Necessary Component to Address Unmet Social Needs and Advance Individual and Community Well-Being
- A radical plan to treat Covid’s mental health fallout WIRED Magazine
- The MoMA Alzheimer’s Project
- WE-Making: How Arts & Culture Unite People to Work Toward Community Well-Being
- How the arts can improve mental health, especially during the pandemic
- Arts, Culture, and Community Mental Health
- Engaging Arts & Culture for Vaccine Confidence Field Guides
- CDC partners with UF Center for Arts in Medicine to increase vaccine confidence through arts and culture
- How to Engage the Arts to Build COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence: Creative Approaches to COVID-19 Vaccination to Unite the Arts and Sciences
- ART & COVID-19 REPOSITORY
- Engaging Arts and Culture for Vaccine Confidence A Guide for Building Programs and Creative Campaigns
Additional Guides and Toolkits
- A toolkit on how to implement social prescribing, World Health Organization.
- Social Prescribing: Applying All Our Health. UK.
- A Guide to Selecting Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) for Social Prescribing. University of Westminster.
- Rural Community Health Toolkit: Asset Identification
- Community Toolbox Toolkits
- Design for Social Prescribing: Bridging Silos for Health Promotion. Harvard University.
History of the CultureRx: Social Prescription Pilot (2020-2023)
