By his own admission, my husband can’t play the piano very well, despite weekly lessons for several years.
But to him, the lessons are more about taking a break from his busy information technology career and daily household demands. It’s a pause in his week, and it brings him much joy (plus the occasional frustration).
For me, I get a mental health boost from hiking with friends or stitching at a fiber arts workshop. I know others in our community get a mood lift from attending a concert, strolling through an art exhibit, or sharpening their street photography skills.
Allen Ebert, executive director at Children’s Theater of Madison, has an abundance of stories on how arts and culture can improve an individual’s well-being and build social connections.
One young participant in a CTM summer program was nonverbal and would only communicate with an iPad. After three weeks of the program, the child was talking with peers.
Such anecdotes show the benefits of arts in meeting basic needs like feeling seen and being connected to a community. But quantifying that with data has been a challenge.
“For us as arts organizations, we have always known this but it’s hard to communicate,” Ebert said. “We haven’t been able to really demonstrate that efficacy that we can now with companies like Art Pharmacy and other university programs.”
Art Pharmacy is a social prescription company that works with health care, universities, arts and government partners to make cultural activities part of patient care. In this type of program, an individual struggling with mental health or social isolation issues could get a literal prescription for free for arts, culture, or nature activities.
States like Georgia, Massachusetts, California, and New York already have such programs in place. Ebert is part of Wisconsin Social Rx — a steering committee of leaders from Dane Arts, Create Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Arts Board, First Stage Milwaukee, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension and others — that hopes to bring social prescribing services to Wisconsin. The group’s website is socialrxwi.wordpress.com.
“We want to get people to buy into a pilot program and then gather the data,” Ebert said. “Where it has been piloted, it has been self-sustaining and they have seen it have an impact and they’ve seen its efficacy.”
It’s not a cure, he said. It’s supplemental and may help people meet basic mental health needs.
In practice, patients work with a care navigator to get a needs assessment, then are given options for activities based on their preferences.
“Whoever is prescribing this, they can pay for that ticket and pay for a plus one to attend a nature activity, quilting class, performance event,” Ebert said. “Then they check in with their care navigator to see how they are progressing and data is collected — are they feeling more connected, less lonely, etcetera.
“Patients feel more connected to their community while improving their health in a different way through these engagements,” Ebert said. “It’s been demonstrated, we know it works, and now we need to connect the (arts, health and policy) systems.”
Equity is also a critical part of a social prescription program. Cultural offerings in Greater Madison are part of what makes living here appealing, but such programs are not always affordable to everyone.
“Because of this model, (the arts) can be more accessible and we can have people attend who may not have been able to attend before,” Ebert said. “The more we can open up access through the health system, we feel like that can happen.”
Meanwhile, as Wisconsin tiptoes into spring weather, sometimes a change of scenery can help shake off the winter drudgery. In this month’s cover story, online editor Jason Busch looks at how boutique hotels are part of the post-pandemic travel renaissance.
Senior writer Joe Vanden Plas interviews scientists and business leaders about what federal funding cuts could mean for scientific research, and, in turn, economic growth in the state. Likewise, reporter Brittney Kenaston looks at how immigration policies could affect the agricultural industry and the workers who keep it running. Thanks, readers.
