Social Prescribing USA

25/07/2025

We are SO excited to be featured in this new piece in The Guardian about physicians using social prescribing around the World to fight inflammation. As our co-founder, Dr. Alan Siegel, M.D. notes, “I’ve seen how social prescriptions can help patients truly heal and adopt healthier lifestyles in the long-term.” Help us spread the word by sharing this important article! Thank you, Julia Hotz, for including us!

Even without a doctor’s note or a thick wallet, anyone can engage in these scientifically-backed anti-inflammatory activities

14/07/2025

Yes...YES....that was just a big story you heard on social prescribing this morning on, yes, NPR Morning Edition! And yes, you heard our Executive Director, Alan Siegel, M.D. talk about the benefits of social prescribing!!! And, yes, you heard from our friends and colleagues mentioned, including Julia Hotz, Art Pharmacy, Cleveland Clinic and more! And, yes, we are very excited about this piece (can you tell?). And, yes, please share with your networks. This segment is more evidence that the movement to integrate arts, nature, connection and civic participation has arrived in the U.S.

You can read (and listen) to the piece at the following link:
https://www.npr.org/2025/07/14/nx-s1-5434386/social-prescription-arts-exercise-loneliness

12/07/2025

As we have said throughout this year, 2025 has marked the year that many key medical journals have focus increasingly focused on social prescribing. This important and balanced editorial in the prestigious Lancet (The Lancet Group) is another great example. The editorial explores the benefits of the global movement, including efforts in the U.S., and points to reservations that we, of course, share. We encourage all of our followers to read and share it!

Thanks to our new advisor, Melissa Sundermann for letting us know about it.

Health is a state of physical, mental, and social wellbeing. Yet social factors, such as loneliness, debt, and stress, have long been neglected in modern biomedical, disease-focused systems. There has been a push to redress this balance. Social prescribing—that is referring patients (by a clinicia...

08/07/2025

A great new article here from Psychology Today on the importance of "community as medicine" and the impactful work of our friends at Open Source Wellness, an Oakland, CA- based organization that continues to grow in exciting ways. This is a great example of social prescribing using a community-based health model that can serve as a model for others throughout the U.S.

What if the best medicine isn’t a pill, but people? Community, connection, and shared purpose are transforming health and well-being.

27/06/2025

It will be early for our core team in California (!), but we are setting our clocks to be up bright and early this Monday morning (June 30th) when the WHO Commission on Social Connection releases its flagship report on social connection!

This is expected to be one of the most important reports ever released on the subject and, given that social connection is the building block of social prescribing, we couldn't be more excited for it and the spotlight it will focus on this critical issue and solutions! We encourage everyone to register for the release and share its findings on Monday and beyond Information on how to register below:

DATE: 30 June 2025 (Monday)
TIME: 15:00–16:30 CEST (Geneva)

🔗 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰:

Anyone, anywhere, can be lonely or socially isolated. But in the last decade, science has transformed our understanding of how important social connection is for our health and well-being. The WHO Commission on Social Connection (2024–2026) was set up to see the issue recognised and resourced as a...

23/06/2025

Will you be joining Julia Hotz (and us) for the second "All Hands" meeting to discuss ways to spread the social prescribing message in your community? We hope so, and there is still time to register for tonight's event (5PM PST/8PM EST) by using the link below! See you tonight!

Are you looking to help spread social prescribing in YOUR community? Join a virtual all-hands-on-deck meeting where we'll each brainstorm how we can take concrete action to help integrate social prescribing in our healthcare systems, our community institutions, and our discussions on health and well...

05/06/2025

We always like to see local media outlets spread the social prescribing message in communities nationwide. Here is a great piece from KJZZ (Division of Public Service, KJZZ Phoenix in Arizona, mentioning the role of social prescribing in treating mental health, and the recent expansion of Art Pharmacyy into that state. The momentum continues!

More and more, doctors are recommending things like hobbies and group activities as a complement to traditional treatments for mental health issues, called “social prescribing.”

08/05/2025

Front-line physicians and other health professionals are essential to the implementation of social prescribing efforts at the local level. That is why we have started a Health Champions group to identify medical professionals who are already integrating referrals to the arts, nature, and connection into their treatment of patients. Next week, we are pleased to feature Dr. Leif Hass, a family physician in the the San Francisco Bay Area who has integrated asects of social prescribing into his practuce. Please join on Monday for this importation conversation! Zoom link at the qr code below:

01/05/2025

We were so glad to hear our friend, Julia Hotz, on the important Business Group on Health podcast. Hotz this week discussed our favorite subject---social prescribing---and our new website even got a mention! Buinsess Group on Health is a prominent organization in health care policy circles in the U.S., so it is great to see the attention it gave to social prescribing and its potential to transform health care and patient outcomes. Listen to the episode below:

Journalist Julia Hotz explores social prescribing—when health care professionals prescribe social activities like art exploration and experiences in nature—and its potential to improve health and well-being.

28/04/2025

Big news: one of the most important research reports on social prescribing in the U.S. was published last week by The Lancet Group, one of the most high profile names in medical research! The special Viewpoint, led by our advisor Dr. Jill Sonke and her colleagues at the UF Center for Arts in Medicine's EpiArts Lab, gives a current overview of the social prescribing field in the U.S. and makes a promient call to "to recognise the benefits that social prescribing could bring to public health and take action to support its development." We encourage our community to read this article in Lancet Public Health and share it with their networks. It is a landmark development for the field!

25/04/2025

We are looking forward to joining with the Benjamin Goldberg Foundation to launch its new Toolkit to help communities plan regional social prescribing convenining to boost local action. Please join us!

Social Prescribing... This is the movement reshaping healthcare! Join the Benjamin Goldberg Foundation on April 30 for a special Live Launch Event: Social Prescribing – A Toolkit for Regional Convenings. We are launching a practical guide to help communities implement their own convenings.

You'll hear from expert voices in the field and gain actionable insights to help implement Social Prescribing initiatives in your region.

🔗 Follow us for details and tune in live on LinkedIn, YouTube, or Facebook.
https://www.youtube.com/live/4P0s4c3JbbE?si=cr7JtWV2s6GSR6Iz

15/04/2025

We're excited to share that our Co-Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Alan Siegel, will be a main stage speaker at the California for the Arts Arts & Culture Summit next week in Sacramento. Other presenters include former NEA Chair, Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson as a Keynote, and Katrina Pineda a research coordinator from our community of practice. Katrina's session will be: "Arts Prescribing in the US: Recent Research from the EipArts Lab". Choose from the various types of tickets and check out the agenda at https://na.eventscloud.com/website/81703/ca-arts-culture-summit/

What role do the arts play in our communities? Join in on this conversation during our CA Arts & Culture Summit mainstage panel, “Health, Healing, & Hope: The Role of Arts in Community Resilience”!

This panel brings together multidisciplinary perspectives by arts administrators, health researchers, funders, and creative placemakers to explore the critical role of the arts in fostering health, healing, and hope within our communities. At a time when resilience and recovery are essential, panelists will illuminate how artists serve as vital "second responders," using their creative practices to address emotional, physical, and social needs.

The panel will be moderated by Nikko Kimzin, CEO + Lead Consultant, Kimzin Creative and featuring speakers Adriana Sanchez, Director of Community Organizing, Latino Community Foundation; Alan Siegel, Co-founder, Executive Director, Social Prescribing USA; Elisabeth Nails, Program Manager, Creative Wellbeing, LA County Arts and Culture; and Isabel Lopez, Founder and Executive Director, Raizes Collective.

Join us for the summit next week! Ticket sales will close on Friday, April 18th at 12:00PM PT, so be sure to grab your tickets today: bit.ly/cfta-summit2025⁠

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