Social prescribing is a practice that complements traditional health care systems and treatments through connecting people to resources and services in their communities to enhance individual well-being.
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August & September 2023
HUMANITIES AND HUMAN FLOURISHING NEWSLETTER
Advancing the understanding, assessment, and cultivation of well-being by means of a deep and sustained collaboration between the arts, humanities, and social sciences
Arts on Prescription: A Novel Healthcare Approach
Imagine: you’re visiting your doctor for your annual check-up and you disclose to them that you’ve been feeling a bit disconnected, stressed at work, or simply put, in a funk. They pull out their prescription pad and write you a script – to join a choir, visit your local art museum, or join a dance class. Perhaps this isn’t what you’ve come to expect from your doctor, but this practice, called social prescribing, is being used more frequently across the globe to enhance flourishing.
Social prescribing is a practice that complements traditional health care systems and treatments through connecting people to resources and services in their communities to enhance individual well-being. A common form of social prescribing has involved referrals to arts organizations and groups to address a variety of well-being concerns, such as isolation, loneliness, or lack of social support. Feedback from people in these programs is overwhelmingly positive, with people reporting high levels of enjoyment and subjective improvements to their well-being.
A major social prescribing program has been the Arts on Prescription program in the United Kingdom. This program connected people to a variety of arts organizations, groups, and practices and demonstrated a variety of benefits—significant reductions in doctor visits and fewer hospitalizations. Other examinations of social prescribing have found that engaging in socially prescribed arts activities have helped people to feel a renewed sense of purpose in their lives, experience greater mental well-being, and feel better able to manage their health.
Integrating artistic engagement with traditional healthcare and health practices may help to expand the benefits gained from healthcare systems and provide a sustainable strategy for people to continue to cultivate flourishing in their lives.
What arts and culture resources – in-person or virtual – are available in your communities? If you had to socially prescribe yourself an arts activity to promote your own well-being, what would you engage in?
Social Prescribing and the Arts in Research
Golden and colleagues (2023) recently completed a pilot evaluation of the first social prescription of the arts program in the United States. They found that participants and health care professionals found these programs to be beneficial for well-being, and cultural organizations identified challenges and ways in which to improve this process moving forward.
Social Prescribing and the Arts in Practice
The National Academy for Social Prescribing in the United Kingdom has been helping people to experience arts-based social prescriptions since 2019. In their work, they help to support groups offering socially prescribed activities, connect the health system to this work, and interface with health care professionals and students to further develop this work.
HHF News
The Humanities and Human Flourishing Project is delighted to welcome Alina Spas, our new Research Administrative Coordinator, to the team. Alina joins us from Temple University, where she received her B.A. in Psychology. Welcome Alina!
This fall, James Pawelski and Katherine Cotter will be teaching a course at the Barnes Foundation called “Flourishing Through Art,” which explores how we can connect with art to enhance our emotional experiences, feel more engaged in our lives, develop more satisfying relationships, and deepen our sense of meaning. You can learn more about it here.
James Pawelski participated in “Education for Human Flourishing: Global Consultation” in Jerusalem, which took place from August 25 – 28, 2023 and was sponsored by the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues and the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University. The goal of the meeting was to will bring together an international group of academics and NGO leaders concerned with policy in educational systems around the Globe that help students live well in a world worth living in.
Upcoming Events
As part of the HHF colloquium series, we are hosting a series of conversations between scientists and practitioners on the arts, culture, and well-being. This fall, we will hear from innovators working in research institutions and cultural organizations on how engagement in music and the visual arts can promote well-being in individuals and communities. We welcome you to join us for these virtual events and to take part in these important exchanges.
- Wednesday, October 4, 2023 | 11:00am to 12:30pm ET – Miriam Lense (Vanderbilt University Medical Center) and Eugenia Hernandez-Ruiz (Arizona State University) discussing Music, Mindfulness, and Well-Being in Families of Children with Developmental Differences (more information and registration here)
Couldn't make it to one of our past colloquia? Check out the recording on our HHF YouTube Channel.
This newsletter was created by Katherine Cotter, Sarah Sidoti, and James Pawelski.
