Art Pharmacy, which connects people to arts and culture events to support health and well-being, is partnering with Wellstar Health System to address the isolation and loneliness epidemic. This new program enables participants in the Wellstar Live to the Beat heart health program to further improve their overall health with opportunities to engage in fun, non-clinical community events that boost mental health and reduce loneliness.
“We are grateful to Wellstar and the Community Health team,” Art Pharmacy CEO Chris Appleton said. “Working with individuals in hypertension control and stress management is important to our work as an organization and aligned with our mission to improve the health and well-being of our members through social prescribing.”
Art Pharmacy’s solution uniquely combines decades of research in the field of arts and health with the care model of social prescribing to address some of the nation’s most challenging health problems.
Social prescribing is a model of care delivery that enables health professionals to formally prescribe non-clinical community activities—including the arts, movement, nature and service—to improve patient health.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Surgeon General, poor social relationships, social isolation and loneliness can increase the risk of heart disease by 29 percent and risk of stroke by 32 percent. Additionally, people with strong perceptions of community belongingness are 2.6 times more likely to report good or excellent health than people with a low sense of belongingness. In addition to Georgia, Art Pharmacy’s social prescribing model has been adopted in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York.
“Our nation has an epidemic of loneliness that can contribute to people suffering from heart disease, stroke and premature death,” said Dr. Earl Stewart Jr., medical director of health equity for Wellstar. “Meaningful social engagement can help people overcome isolation and improve their behavioral health. We’ve found great success with our Live to the Beat heart health program, and we’re now working with Art Pharmacy to further improve participants' overall health.”
Art Pharmacy drives clinical and quality outcomes with its healthcare partners through its tech-enabled, human-powered social prescribing solution. Art Pharmacy will connect participants to community-based activities with protective and therapeutic benefits to their mental health and well-being. To increase adherence and utilization, patients will have access to a broad range of activities and care navigation services. Arts-based social prescribing is an effective, evidence-based way to support patients with mental health needs, reduce social isolation and loneliness, and promote adherence to co-morbid treatment plans.
As a non-profit health system, Wellstar works to ensure every person has access to personalized care that helps them spend more time being a person, rather than a patient. The Live to the Beat program is a community outreach program offered through the Wellstar Congregational Health Network, which partners with local faith communities to connect congregants with community health resources.
To learn more, contact Art Pharmacy at [email protected] or visit artpharmacy.co.