Healing Arts

Ninth grade was tough for Jewel Edwards. Her coursework at an Atlanta, Georgia, high school was demanding, and as an introverted person, she found it hard to make new friends. Her anxiety would often lead to full-blown panic attacks.

“I was really struggling just trying to get along,” says Jewel, who’s now 17.

Then a therapist she was seeing outside of school referred her to a health care group in Atlanta called Art Pharmacy, which links patients with local arts institutions. There, Jewel met a health coach, and they agreed that Jewel would attend a pottery class twice a week. She was nervous on her first night in class, but she made a friend right away who guided her in molding clay on a pottery wheel and made her feel comfortable with making mistakes.

She got to keep the bowls she made, and, she says, “I just asked, ‘Hey can I come back here?’”

Jewel’s experience is an example of social prescribing, an approach to improving people’s health and well-being by connecting them with nonclinical activities like art classes and reading clubs.

Social prescribing is gaining steam in the United States. Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic are prescribing nature walks, volunteering, and ballroom dancing to elderly patients. The New Jersey Performing Arts Center offers some patients glassblowing workshops, concerts, and museum exhibitions. And universities have started referring students to events such as comedy shows and concerts as part of their mental health initiatives.

Social prescribing has been around for decades in Great Britain, where it’s particularly popular. The idea is to address mental health issues by treating underlying problems such as isolation and social stress, which studies have shown play a crucial role in people’s long-term health.

Ninth grade was hard for Jewel Edwards. Her coursework at an Atlanta, Georgia, high school was demanding. As an introverted person, she found it hard to make new friends. Her anxiety often led to full-blown panic attacks.

“I was really struggling just trying to get along,” says Jewel, who’s now 17.

Then a therapist she was seeing outside of school referred her to a health care group in Atlanta called Art Pharmacy, which links patients with local arts institutions. There, Jewel met a health coach. They agreed that Jewel would attend a pottery class twice a week. She was nervous on her first night in class. But she made a friend who helped her in molding clay on a pottery wheel and made her feel comfortable with making mistakes.

She got to keep the bowls she made, she says. “I just asked, ‘Hey can I come back here?’”

Jewel’s experience is an example of social prescribing. It’s an approach to improving people’s health and well-being by connecting them with nonclinical activities like art classes and reading clubs.

Social prescribing is gaining popularity in the United States. Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic are prescribing nature walks, volunteering, and ballroom dancing to elderly patients. The New Jersey Performing Arts Center offers some patients glassblowing workshops, concerts, and museum exhibitions. And universities have started referring students to events such as comedy shows and concerts as part of their mental health initiatives.

Social prescribing has been popular for decades in Great Britain. The idea is to address mental health issues by treating underlying problems such as isolation and social stress. These can play a crucial role in people’s long-term health.

The mental health of adolescents and young adults has been in crisis in recent years. Among U.S. high school students in 2023, 40 percent reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in the past year, and 20 percent seriously contemplated suicide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts point to a number of reasons, including social media use, worries over climate change, and political polarization.

Participation in the arts, along with opportunities for social connection, are the top things young people say they need to support their mental health, even above traditional services such as therapy, according to a survey of 87,000 text exchanges young people had with the group Crisis Text Line. Organizations like Art Pharmacy, which currently operates in five states, are seeking to fill this need.

“The arts are a readily available resource in most every community across the country,” says the group’s CEO, Chris Appleton. In fact, he adds, arts opportunities are plentiful, while wait lists for mental health treatment are growing.

Similar programs are underway elsewhere, for people of all ages. Kristi Maisha, an engineering student at Stanford University in California, attended an improvisational dance class, hoping to relieve the stress of her intense academic schedule.

She was apprehensive at first. But twisting her torso and limbs into new shapes, she experienced something new. She was living in the moment, she says, freed from the “planned out, predetermined thoughts” that often confined her.

“Now that I know that it’s actually quite a good time, I’m more likely to do it, regardless of them prescribing it or not,” Maisha says.

The mental health of adolescents and young adults has been in crisis in recent years. Among U.S. high school students in 2023, 40 percent reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in the past year. Twenty percent have seriously contemplated suicide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts point to a number of reasons for this crisis, including social media use, worries over climate change, and political polarization.

Participation in the arts and other opportunities for social connection are the top things young people say they need to support their mental health.  According to a survey of 87,000 text exchanges young people had with the group Crisis Text Line, these activities are requested above traditional services such as therapy. Organizations like Art Pharmacy, which currently operates in five states, are seeking to fill this need.

“The arts are a readily available resource in most every community across the country,” says the group’s CEO, Chris Appleton. In fact, he adds, arts opportunities are readily available, while wait lists for mental health treatment are growing.

Similar programs are underway elsewhere, for people of all ages. Kristi Maisha, an engineering student at Stanford University, in California, attended an improvisational dance class. She hoped to relieve the stress of her intense academic schedule.

Twisting her torso and limbs into new shapes, Maisha experienced something new, she says. She was living in the moment, freed from the “planned out, predetermined thoughts” that often confined her.

“Now that I know that it’s actually quite a good time, I’m more likely to do it, regardless of them prescribing it or not,” Maisha says.

—Kristi Maisha, Engineering Student

—Kristi Maisha, Engineering Student

Social prescribing still isn’t widely available in the U.S. While Stanford paid for Maisha’s classes, most people rely on health insurance companies to help pay for medical costs. But most insurers remain skeptical, saying they’re still looking at the science on whether a pottery class or working in a community garden can help cure medical conditions.

“Our health care system tends to make only very incremental changes,” says Daniel Eisenberg, a professor of health policy and management at the University of California, Los Angeles. Insurers, he says, usually “favor medical care and more acute intensive care.”

Things may be changing, slowly. Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, for one, is participating in a study of whether an arts prescription program can improve patients’ quality of life. It will also test whether these prescriptions can save money by reducing emergency room visits for everyday health care needs.

There’s no doubt to Jewel that life is better. The six weeks she spent in pottery class went so well that she’s since attended museum exhibitions and a dance class.

“It’s having a way out of all the stress and the chaos life throws at you,” she says of these experiences, “and putting that anger and pain into something that’s tangible, something that you can just release through the experience. Just take a break from the world for a minute.”

Social prescribing still isn’t widely available in the U.S. While Stanford paid for Maisha’s classes, most people rely on health insurance companies to help pay for medical costs. But most insurers remain skeptical. They say they’re still looking at the science on whether a pottery class or working in a community garden can help cure medical conditions.

“Our health care system tends to make only very incremental changes,” says Daniel Eisenberg, a professor of health policy and management at the University of California, Los Angeles. Insurers, he says, usually “favor medical care and more acute intensive care.”

Things may be changing, slowly. Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, for one, is studying whether an arts prescription program can improve patients’ quality of life. It will also test whether these prescriptions can save money by reducing emergency room visits for everyday health care needs.

There’s no doubt to Jewel that life is better. The six weeks she spent in pottery class went so well that she’s since attended museum exhibitions and a dance class.

“It’s having a way out of all the stress and the chaos life throws at you,” she says of these experiences, “and putting that anger and pain into something that’s tangible, something that you can just release through the experience. Just take a break from the world for a minute.”

With reporting by Christina Caron of The New York Times.

With reporting by Christina Caron of The New York Times.