Arts on prescription?
What if your doctor or therapist could prescribe a museum visit, art classes, or time in nature to support your health? The “CultureRx” program in Massachusetts is piloting this concept for the first time in the United States.
I was honored to lead the evaluation of this pilot, and am delighted to share the FREE REPORT on our findings!
Update 2023: This pilot evaluation led to the creation of “Arts on Prescription: A Field Guide for US Communities.”
What Is CultureRx?
“CultureRx” is the first “arts on prescription” program in the U.S. It was launched by Mass Cultural Council and offers a way for healthcare providers to “prescribe” arts and cultural experiences that support their patients’ health.
Did you know? Medical care accounts for only 10-20% of our health. The rest is determined by contextual factors like housing, food, employment, education, social connection, transportation, clean air & water, and more. This means that to be truly effective, healthcare practices have to be able to point patients to community resources and opportunities that can support them in healing and thriving.
In the US, many healthcare providers do refer out to resources for housing, food, jobs programs, etc… but most communities don’t yet have systems that allow providers to connect their patients with experiences related to arts, culture, and nature. CultureRx is an early model seeking to change that — and by doing so, to improve health and well-being.
Give me the details
12 cultural organizations across Massachussetts, partnered with 20+ healthcare providers
Museums, theater, dance, a park system, a zoo, art/music classes, and more… partnered with physicians, mental health therapists, school counselors, and physical therapists
In this evaluation, 8 of the 12 organizations collected data from their 2022 participants. We analyzed that data, and also spoke with the cultural organizations and healthcare providers.
A few takeways
(Read the free report for much more!)
For most healthcare providers, this was their first experience referring patients to something that was purely enjoyable—something that supports their patients’ interests, sense of connection in the community, desire for beauty, etc. They saw this as an important addition to their toolkits, and they’d like the program to expand!
“It feels like prescribing beauty in your life,” a physician stated. “I’ve never had a chance to do that, but I feel like that’s kind of what this is.
Also: “referring people to arts & culture is good for providers’ health, too.” Providers told us that referring people to arts and nature opportunities had positive effects on their own moods, on their interactions with patients, and on how they felt about their work.
People who received referrals reported overwhelmingly positive experiences. They felt welcome as participants at the arts and culture organizations, and wanted to return for more. “Overall, evaluation points to the ability for arts and culture engagement to deliver positive outcomes with minimal risks.”
So what’s next?
Although “arts on prescription” is new in the US, connecting patients and clients with community resources is not. I’ll be working with CultureRx and my teams to ensure that arts and culture are regularly included in community referral practices.
2023 UPDATE: We’ve published the groundbreaking tool: “Arts on Prescription: A Field Guide for US Communities.” This packed resource is the first “how-to” guide for initiating arts on prescription programs in your community. Learn more and download it for FREE here!
Art, nature, and cultural experiences are important assets in every community; they bolster health, connection, and quality of life. Access to these resources is necessary for advancing community health, social determinants of health, health equity, and well-being. Who has access to opportunities to thrive? is a crucial question; this initiative suggests a way to expand our answers to it.
So what’s next for you? If you’d like to see this kind of program in your community, we’re crafting tools to support people in building their own versions of this work. Meanwhile, this report provides some of those tools — So please check out our many Recommendations!
“The CultureRx initiative offers a promising addition to current efforts to address social determinants of health. Its focus on arts, culture, and nature can augment traditional referral processes in the U.S. by providing ways to advance well- being and social connection.”
