A 2025 report on Forbes.com discussed how the former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy’s parting prescription for America can be utilized by colleges and universities to reduce loneliness and build a sense of community on campuses. Even before this parting prescription, some schools have been innovative in developing other prescriptions to increase student engagement while promoting mental health benefits. One emerging innovation is providing students opportunities to engage in arts related programs, either on campus or in the local community. Thus, students are giving “social arts prescriptions” to partake in programs such as attending a play, creating a sculpture, engaging in poetry writing, or visiting cultural museums and botanical gardens.
Data suggests that arts prescribing programs in higher education are both popular among students and effective in promoting health benefits. To understand how these programs can be utilized, it’s important to learn about the transformative power of the arts, how an arts prescribing program can work, and an example of such a program on campus.
The Transformative Power of the Arts
A 2023 report on Psychology Today outlined how social prescribing programs originated decades ago by healthcare providers in the UK. The intent was to address the social drivers of health, and these programs were found to enhance social connections and improve the quality of life, which lowered anxiety and depression. However, the impact of arts prescribing programs might extend further than social domains. Dr. Joe Behen serves as the Dean of the Wellness Center at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He argued that engaging in the arts is transformative. “Experiencing the arts – both making art ourselves and witnessing works created by others – is transformative and enhances wellbeing. It engages us emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Arts experience elevates empathy, stimulates compassion, and inspires deeper connection to our own selves and to others with whom we share the creative experiences.” The association between the arts and factors such as empathy, self-awareness, compassion can be instrumental for schools to bolster the mental health of students.
How A Socially Prescribing Arts Program Can Work
Chris Appleton is the founder and CEO of Art Pharmacy, which is a company that provides social prescribing services to universities, healthcare systems, corporations, and government partners. According to the website, Art Pharmacy was founded in 2022 with the hope of addressing both mental health and loneliness concerns by connecting people to arts and culture engagements in their communities. The company has a network of community partners across various states that offer programs in the visual, performing, literary, textile and traditional arts, as well as various cultural experiences. Individuals who are “prescribed” arts experiences will meet with a Care Navigator. The purpose of this Care Navigator is to recommend arts and culture activities that align with a person’s health goals and interests, address any barriers to accessing activities, and to complete follow-up correspondence. After an event is selected, the individual is sent two tickets to bring a friend. In some cases, Art Pharmacy can even help to arrange transportation.
Appleton hopes to expand Art Pharmacy to all 50 states and argued that all colleges and universities can benefit from arts prescribing programs. He stated, “… students need more than traditional services. Art Pharmacy is pioneering social prescribing in higher education—connecting students to creative interventions that improve well-being, build resilience, and foster community at scale.”
Arts Prescribing Programs On Campus
Deborah Cullinan is the Vice President for the Arts at Stanford University. She shared the results of a pilot Stanford Arts Prescribing Program, which partnered with Art Pharmacy. According to the Vice President, she was impressed by the popularity of the program. She commented that she originally hoped to secure between four and five prescribing campus/community partners, yet the program secured over 20. She provided data suggesting that the attendance engagement rate was 88%, and that scores from a self-report measurement on well-being increased by 20% after the students received their prescribed “arts dosages.” Furthermore, scores from a self-report measurement of loneliness decreased by 16%.
Vice President Cullinan agreed with Dean Behen that engaging in the arts is transformative. She argued that the arts and creativity are just as important to health as exercise and food, and that all schools should provide arts experiences to students. She stated, “Stanford was one of the first major universities to launch a social prescription program over a year ago, and interest continues to grow on and off our campus. I am thrilled that this pilot program is a model for expanded mental health support and solutions.”
