Refreshing site creatively. In the meantime...

Stay updated on Art Pharmacy

Making art the medicine.

It's great to have you on board🎉
Hum… Please enter a valid email address 🚧

Arts & Culture Improve Mental Health

Art Pharmacy works with managed care partners to increase access to timely, cost-effective care.

A women participating in an activity to improve her mental health
BG VectorBG Vector
Facts

Mental & Behavioral Health Has A Problem

Illustration describing demand for mental health

Demand for mental health

More than 20% of people in the United States will suffer from a mental health disorder in 2023, and there’s a shortage of mental health care providers.

Illustration describing how easy, yet effective art pharmacy is.

Easy, yet effective

Patients need greater access to treatments that address the bio-psycho-social elements of mental health.

Illustration describing proven, and scalable alternatives to support patients clinical needs.

Evidence-Driven Scale

Providers & Payers are looking for innovative, proven, and scalable alternatives to support patients clinical needs.

20%

20% of the U.S. population will suffer from a mental health disorder in 2023.

50%

50% of the U.S. population will experience a mental health disorder in their lifetime.

$300 bn

Untreated mental illness costs us up to $300 billion annually due to lost productivity and associated costs due to absenteeism, employee turnover and increases in medical and disability expenses.

Solution

Our Better Solution

Art Pharmacy enables health care providers to prescribe evidence-informed arts interventions assisting patients with mental health concerns as a supplement to other forms of intervention therapies. The Art Pharmacy solution considers clinical needs, patient preference, and decades of research on which delivery modes, artistic disciplines, and participation methods are most effective for each patient.

Illustration describing Social Prescribing

Social Prescribing

Social prescribing is a practice – with decades of success in Europe – through which health care providers prescribe social care or social interventions as supplements to traditional clinical and pharmaceutical care.

Illustration describing Arts & Health

Arts & Health

40+ years of research at institutions like Johns Hopkins, University of Florida, Harvard, and World Health Organization tells us that engagement with the arts can reduce anxiety, depression, and social isolation.

Illustration describing Prescribed Treatment Plan

Prescribed Treatment Plan

Like any pharmacy, our inventory of interventions is personalized and treatment plan aligned. For example, team members may participate in therapeutic painting classes or attend a theatre performance.

BG Vector
Our process

The Patient Experience

Infographic describing the patient experience
Infographic describing the patient experience
Referral

Your healthcare providers identifies a need, and writes a "prescription" for engagement with an arts & cultural activity.

Care Navigation

A dedicated Care Navigator contacts you to connect you with smart-matched arts & culture engagements.

Participation

You attend monthly arts & culture activities with protective and therapeutic benefits to your mental health.

Monitoring

Your Care Navigator monitors your progress and shares that information with your referring provider.

Refill

At the end of your prescription, visit your healthcare provider to get a refill!

Benefits

Benefits of Art Pharmacy

Whether engaging with Art Pharmacy as a patient or as a Provider, the benefits are clear.

Participate in culturally-relevant, patient centered activities

Participate in culturally-relevant, patient centered activities

The power to choose from a selection of arts & culture engagement offerings means that patients are more likely to find an activity that is the right fit for THEM and more likely to follow through with participation.

Increase sense of belonging and social connections

Increase sense of belonging and social connections

The arts have been shown to support a sense of social identity through shared experience and can enhance social resilience by providing time and space to socialize and develop meaningful relationships.

Boost self-esteem and confidence

Boost self-esteem and confidence

Engaging with the arts helps validate the uniqueness of an individual and provides an avenue for expression beyond words, which gives rise to a sense of accomplishment and to feelings of self-worth - both key factors in increasing resilience.

Improve emotional-well being

Improve emotional-well being

The creation and enjoyment of the arts gives a feeling of joy and boosts a good mood. Artwork fosters the feeling of relaxation, creativity, and inspiration. Any form of creativity can reduce the stress hormone cortisol and encourage the good hormones endorphins and dopamine in our brains.

Lower cortisol levels and increase serotonin & dopamine

Lower cortisol levels and increase serotonin & dopamine

There is increasing evidence in the field of neuroaesthetics that art enhances brain function by impacting brain wave patterns, the nervous system, and emotions by releasing feel-good neurotransmitters.  These benefits don't just come from making art, they also occur by experiencing art.

Decrease anxiety, depression and social isolation

Decrease anxiety, depression and social isolation

Connecting with the arts can help decrease anxiety and build coping skills. Art allows us to express feelings and memories in ways other than words. Engaging with art & culture can be a cathartic experience that provides a sense of relief.

Address the growing mental health crisis

Address the growing mental health crisis

The Art Pharmacy offers tangible activities that offer therapeutic benefits that complement clinical care AND protective benefits to help prevent further deterioration of an individual’s mental health, without long wait times for service.

Monitor patient well-being outside of clinical settings

Monitor patient well-being outside of clinical settings

Our Care Navigation team monitors patient wellbeing using validated tools to provide prescribing partners information between visits.

Reduce hospitalization and ED usage

Reduce hospitalization and ED usage

Decreasing the frequency and severity of mental health episodes avoids the use of costly services due to mental health crises.

Decrease the cost of care

Decrease the cost of care

Engagement with arts & culture builds the protective factors which can prevent costly mental health crises.

70% of patients preferred alternatives to anti-depressants

70% of patients preferred alternatives to anti-depressants

Offering patients agency in their treatment plan leads to increased adherence and more positive outcomes.

Differentiate from your competitors

Differentiate from your competitors

9/10 Art Pharmacy participants say that they would recommend their service provider because they offer Art Pharmacy services.

How it works

Building an ecosystem – Tying the Network Together

Building an ecosystem
– Tying the Network Together

Healthcare providers (primary care, behavioral health, oncology, etc.) enroll as Prescribing Partners to be able to refer their patients to Art Pharmacy. They receive training and educational materials to support the “prescribing” process. Once the referral is issued, Art Pharmacy’s team provides a high-touch concierge experience for patients – collecting data on their well-being and adherence, smart-matching patients with the most effective arts engagements, and addressing barriers to access such as the need for caregiver or transportation assistance.

Image describing Art pharmacy and how it works.

Getting Started

Connect with an Art Pharmacy team member to enroll as a Prescribing Partner, provide access to your health plans’ members, or find a participating provider in your region.

Connecting with an Art Pharmacy team member to enrol as a Prescribing Partner
BG Vector