Arts-on-prescription
Art is medicine
Within ‘Arts-on-Prescription’ models, doctors prescribe community arts classes to those suffering from a range of mental illnesses and cognitive issues – and a growing body of scientific research attests to their efficacy.
Arts-on-Prescription models are not only effective at treating mental health issues, they have also been shown to promote physical health and wellbeing – and provide a cost-effective supplement to traditional prescriptions.
Community art classes have been found to precipitate a 73% fall in depression
Arts-on-Prescription projects can result in a government saving of £216 per capita.
Arts-on-Prescription projects have led to a 27% reduction in hospital admissions
The Neuroscience of A-o-P
Creating art activates many areas of the brain at once, producing a unique type of bilateral stimulation that helps connect thinking and feeling. This whole-brain engagement supports mind-body harmony and is especially effective in trauma therapy (1). Because of this, artistic abilities tend to endure even when parts of the brain are damaged or as we age. This makes art a lifelong skill and a powerful tool for maintaining brain health.
Through engaging in art, people can tap into the brain’s natural ability to form new connections, a phenomenon called neuroplasticity.
Normally, your prefrontal cortex (PFC) helps regulate emotions by keeping the amygdala—the brain’s fear center—in check. But chronic stress can weaken this control, causing the amygdala to become overactive and increasing anxiety. Art-making can rebuild and strengthen the pathways between the PFC and amygdala, helping improve emotional regulation and resilience (2).
A-o-P for Hong Kong
Although “social prescribing programmes are becoming mainstays [...] across the UK” and have been recommended by the WHO, they have, for the most part, yet to reach Asia.
But Hong Kong would benefit hugely from Art on Prescription models — which are particularly useful within aging populations where “primary care patients are increasingly presenting to their general practitioners (GPs) with complex needs, spanning physical, mental, and social health and well-being concerns.”