At aa-tomo TODAY, we wish to share the idea of cultural prescribing with a wider audience. That is why we have launched a series called KEYWORD, in which we clearly and simply unpack the terms used in our articles. By providing background context and exploring the meaning that each word carries, we hope this series will serve as a natural entry point for readers to become familiar with cultural prescribing.
Cultural prescribing is a practice and a system that supports health and wellbeing by creating opportunities for people to connect with the arts, creative activities, cultural institutions, and places of cultural significance, while also building links between culture, healthcare and social care. This idea is also connected to public policy in Japan. The Basic Act on Culture and the Arts, which came into force in 2017, states that creating and enjoying culture and the arts is “the inherent right of all people”. Cultural prescribing likewise recognises that ensuring everyone has opportunities to encounter and engage with culture is essential for people to live healthy and fulfilling lives.
Cultural experiences can help people to relax, become more aware of their inner feelings and senses, and develop connections with other people and with society. Research conducted in different parts of the world has also suggested that participation in arts and cultural activities may contribute in particular to improved psychosocial wellbeing and to reductions in depression, loneliness and social isolation.
Social prescribing, which has become increasingly widespread in countries such as the UK, is described by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a means by which healthcare professionals connect patients with a range of non-clinical services available in the community in order to improve health and wellbeing. Social prescribing is also understood not simply as a non-clinical intervention in itself, but as a “pathway” through which people are connected with community resources according to their individual needs.
Whereas social prescribing is a “pathway” that begins with healthcare professionals and connects people with community resources, cultural prescribing approaches this from the cultural side. It opens up new relationships between people and culture and, through the new encounters and perspectives that emerge, seeks to support healthier and more fulfilling lives for individuals and communities.
KEYWORD for Cultural Prescribing! "Creative Health" What does it mean?