Arts on prescription: why doctors are prescribing museums and comedy

If life is getting you down in the Swiss town of Neuchâtel, a "novel" medical option is being offered to local residents: "expose yourself to art and get a doctor's note to do it for free".

In a two-year pilot project, local and regional authorities are bankrolling "museum prescriptions" from doctors who believe their patients could benefit from visits to the establishments, said the Associated Press.

The project is a response to a World Health Organization report which found that arts can boost mental health, reduce the impact of trauma and lower the risk of cognitive decline, frailty and "premature mortality".

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It is a relatively cheap programme: so far some 500 prescriptions have been distributed to doctors around town and the budget is just 10,000 Swiss francs (around £8,800). If it proves a success, officials could expand the program to other artistic activities like theatre or dance.

'Comedy on prescription'

This alternative approach to traditional medicine is gaining increasing traction across the globe, with some doctors now prescribing everything from parkruns, to swimming classes and stand-up comedy.

In the UK, GPs have prescribed parkruns to NHS patients after the running organisation teamed up with the Royal College of GPs to connect family doctors with local parkrun events, with nearly 2,000 practices signing up.

Social prescriptions like this go beyond just physical benefits, but "connects people to activities, groups, and services in their community" to "meet the practical, social and emotional needs" that "affect their health and wellbeing", said the NHS.

In February, trials began to see if "comedy on prescription" can help improve people's mental health, reported Sky News, and gardening projects have also been taking referrals from GPs and dementia advisors.

'Find a little beauty' in the world

Dr Marc-Olivier Sauvain, head of surgery at the Neuchatel Hospital Network, said it's "really nice to prescribe museum visits rather than medicines or tests that patients don't enjoy".

"Probably the biggest benefit" of the museums prescriptions will be "giving people a reason to get out of the house" and "do something interesting that introduces a bit of beauty into their gloomy lives", said Vice. It's "not a cure", but "a nice way to get moving" and to "find a little beauty" in an "otherwise dreary world".

NHS England has said there is a "growing body of evidence" that social prescribing can improve people's wellbeing, as well as reduce pressure on NHS services, "with reductions in GP consultations, A&E attendances and hospital bed stays for people who have received social prescribing support".

Yet it is far from a panacea. In 2022, a major review found "no consistent evidence" that social prescribing improves social support or physical function, or reduces the use of primary care services, said Pulse Today. There is also "limited evidence" that patients found social prescribing to improve their personal health or quality of care.