Twenty years ago a similar program launched in the UK. Last year, the UK health system anticipated serving 3,000,000 people with social prescribing.
Prescription for
the Arts
How it started: Prescription for the Arts is inspired by Arts on Prescription. The focus on youth mental health was the brainchild of then Board Chair of Wildhorse Arts & Cinema, Jennifer Grathwohl. With a young daughter, she was seeing firsthand the mental health crisis in the schools and knew that a program that instilled youth with lifelong coping skills through the arts would impact uncountable lives. In our first year, Pediatrics of Steamboat Springs partnered with us to bring the program to life. Care Navigator, Peggy Axtell, then built local partnerships with NW Colorado Health’s Youth Resiliency Program, Yampa Valley High School and the Boys & Girls Club of NW Colorado. We are fortunate to have had so many brilliant people bring this program to life!
How it works: Mental health providers and doctors assess patients struggling with isolation, depression and anxiety to determine if arts experiences might be beneficial. Clients choose which arts discipline they are interested in, whether they prefer one-on-one classes or group classes and how frequently they wish to attend. A care navigator connects the client with a professional artist to begin instruction. If your care provider is not yet connected to our program, please let us know so we can reach out.
Prescription for the Arts is a program modeled on ‘Arts on Prescription: a Field Guide for US Communities’ created by Mass Cultural Council – Center for Arts in Medicine.
Prescription for the Arts works with mental health providers across Northwest Colorado. If you are interested in joining our program or our network, please reach out to Peggy Axtell, Care Navigator, Prescription for the Arts. Email: Peggy@undiscoveredearth.com
Social Prescribing
Social prescribing is happening in the UK, Canada and in the United States. Physicians, psychologists, social workers and others are prescribing singing classes for stress, museum visits and concert tickets for anxiety and nature walks for burnout, offering prevention and intervention
Why
“The arts are like a secret language for children,”
Abigail Unger
from the book
Your Brain on Arts
Creativity
lowers stress,
improves emotional regulation,
enhances immune function,
increases cardiovascular reactivity
and that’s just the beginning….