‘A prescription for fun’: How social prescribing is aiming to connect vulnerable Canadians to their communities (Erin Anderssen, The Globe and Mail)
The Globe and Mail article that explores pilot programming for social prescriptions.
Resources
Arts-based social prescribing comes to Stanford (Robin Wander, Stanford Report)
A new partnership between Vaden Health Services and the program Art Pharmacy taps into the power of experiences like taking a poetry workshop or attending a photography exhibit for enhancing student well-being.
Resource: Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation: The U.S. Surgeon Gneral’s advisory on the healing effects of social connection and community (The U.S. Surgeon General)
Given the profound consequences of loneliness and isolation, we have an opportunity, and an obligation, to make the same investments in addressing social connection that we have made in addressing tobacco use, obesity, and the addiction crisis. This Surgeon General’s Advisory shows us how to build more connected lives and a more connected society.
Resource: The Impact of Arts and Cultural Engagement on Population Health: Findings from Major Cohort Studies in the UK and USA 2017 –2022 (University College London)
This report synthesizes the global evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being, with a specific focus on the WHO European Region. Results from over 3000 studies identified a major role for the arts in the prevention of ill health, promotion of health, and management and treatment of illness across the lifespan.
Resource: The arts in public health policy: progress and opportunities (The Lancet: Health Policy)
To explore what global progress is being made towards the WHO’s call for collaboration between arts and public health. The paper presents examples of arts and health policy development from diverse government areas: health, arts, local governments, and cross government.
Resource: Arts on Prescription: A Field Guide for US Communities (University of Florida)
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.
In Warsaw, art brings solace and hope to Ukrainian refugees (Paul Waldie, Globe and Mail)
A “Slow-Looking” program at the National Museum in Warsaw, Poland is an innovative art therapy workshop for Ukrainian refugees.
Art therapy offers an alternative to medication for depression and anxiety (Robin Roberts, Healthing.ca)
Whether it’s music, clay or painting, research has shown that experiencing art makes us feel better. If only policymakers recognized the value.
Article in Healthing.ca by Robin Roberts
Resource: The impact of the arts in helthcare on patients and service users: A critical review (Health and Social Care Community)
This review provides an updated evaluation of the emerging body of literature on the value of the arts in healthcare settings. Internationally, there is growing interest in the use of the arts in the healthcare context supported by the number of research studies reported in the nursing and medical literature.
Question by The Honourable Patricia Bovey to Ministry of Health: Impact of Arts and Culture on Health
Question by The Honourable Patricia Bovey to Ministry of Health at the Debates of the Senate, 1st Session, 44th Parliament (February 9, 2022)