The former U.S. Surgeon General warned of an epidemic of loneliness and social isolation.
In his last days in the role, Dr. Vivek Murthy wrote “A Parting Prescription for America” that called on people to cultivate and prioritize community. He argued that relationships and caring for others is a large part of a person’s overall well-being.
In the face of this loneliness epidemic, some doctors may soon be prescribing social activities.
Social prescribing has been on the rise in the UK for several years now, with more than one million referrals a year.
It’s the practice of a health professional prescribing a patient a community activity or resource, the same way they’d prescribe pills or therapy. Those activities can range from exercise and art classes to concerts and volunteering.
Basically, anything that gets someone out of their home and socializing with others in a positive manor.
“They can prescribe for you the attendance at a local concert or workshops like a ceramics workshop, etc, because what they're really working with is mental health,” said Wisconsin Arts Board Executive Director George Tzougros. “What we know is the loneliness epidemic, people being unfortunately in their own spaces and not getting out and mixing it up with people.”
The WAB and other organizations across the state, like Create Wisconsin, Anthem, and various arts groups, have been working to bring social prescribing to Wisconsin.
Tzourgros says they’ve been working with a company called Social Rx, formally called Arts Pharmacy, that will help link medical professionals, art & social groups, and insurance companies.
The process is still in the early stages of educating these groups.
“Doctors need to know about it, need to know how to prescribe. Health insurance companies need to know about it and know how to engage with the doctors and Art Pharmacy, arts organizations, and artists need to know about it so that they can, in fact, learn how to fulfill these prescriptions and to make themselves available to that opportunity. There's a lot to learn,” said Tzougros.
While a formal process that would be covered by insurance will be new, the concept and science behind it is not.
“I mean, it's the whole person, right? It's making sure that the whole person is healthy and what a surprise, the arts are part of what makes folks healthy,” said Tzougros.
Melinda Childs has seen firsthand the impact the arts can have on a person’s wellbeing. She’s the community and cultural development director at ArtStart and has been part of the Social Prescribing steering committee in Wisconsin.
“We've actually already had people coming to our classes and events telling us that their doctor or therapist recommended it,” said Childs. “It really is a natural progression to this concept really taking off and then just legitimizing it and putting a little bit of funding behind it in terms of helping the insurance companies and the medical institutions understand that it's needed.”
ArtStart in Rhinelander does programs directly tied to arts and health like Spark! It’s a program for people with early to mid-stage memory loss and their care partners.
Other ones they do aren’t explicit in that connection, but still have the same impact, like the Teen Art Experience.
Artist Norma Dycus Pennycuff leads the weekly art class for 13- to 19-year-olds.
“We have homeschoolers, non-homeschoolers. We have kids who are experiencing completely different walks of life,” said Dycus Pennycuff. “I think there's strength in having to navigate that and figuring out how to do small talk and the art is just kind of the vehicle that allows that.”
Fifteen-year-olds Lia and Jaelene have regularly attended the Teen Art Experience since it started two years ago.
For both of them, it’s been an opportunity to find others who are share their interest in art.
“I love the people that I get to meet. It's such a different community. I usually get out, and I play a lot of sports, and the people that play sports are often very different than the people that do art,” said Lia.
“This gives me a chance to meet people that are interested in the same thing I'm interested in, considering that I'm homeschooled as well,” said Jaelene.
There are different art projects the teens can work on at their own pace. They can talk and joke around with the others or just work on their art.
Dycus Pennycuff says she wanted the class to just be a place for teens to be themselves and experience art.
As they become more comfortable in the space, they start to open up. Dycus Pennycuff stresses to all of them that it’s a judgement free zone.
“The hands get busy, the heart kind of opens, and the mouth kind of opens, and everything's allowed, so I think providing that space too has helped them bond,” said Dycus Pennycuff.
It’s certainly a time both Lia and Jaelene look forward to each week.
“It's such a great little community,” said Lia. “I notice a big shift in my mood when I come and I've missed the last two weeks, and it's been bad. I miss coming here.”
“It's helped me with my mental health, especially so I always feel a lot happier after I leave here and when I come here, it gives me something to look forward to,” said Jaelene.
While arts and other social activities like the Teen Art Experience are out there now for people to take part in, Childs says having a Social Prescribing program in Wisconsin can make the arts more accessible financially to some people as well as add legitimacy to the connect between socializing and wellbeing.
“It can bring it to people who maybe aren't hearing about it in other ways, but if they're hearing about it from their doctor, they may trust that information. They may search out experiences that they wouldn't have otherwise,” said Childs.
Those in higher education, healthcare, and creative and community-based organizations can attend webinars this week to learn more about it. You can find registration details here. You can find the links under the Efforts in Wisconsin and Get Involved tabs.
