Beyond Medication: How social prescribing can help cure our mental health crisis with Art Pharmacy CEO Chris Appleton

A better way to combat loneliness

Chris Appleton is the Founder and CEO of Art Pharmacy, a healthcare-grade social prescribing company. Art Pharmacy works nationally with health systems, payers, and community-based organizations to support individuals struggling with mental health, loneliness, and chronic disease.

We’re putting out short-form video snippets on both Instagram and YouTube. Check it out!

-

Episode overview:

• Chris and I covered social prescribing, where a doctor prescribes an arts and culture intervention paid for by a healthcare payor (like an insurance company or Medicaid), then the patient attends a regular offering, such as a dance class or trip to the theater.

  • The ‘minimum effective dose’ of arts and culture interventions surprised me; Chris mentioned that going to the theater once a month can move the needle on loneliness and life satisfaction for an elderly adult.

• We also discussed the complexity of getting this company built as a venture capital-backed managed marketplace business, where he’s got to sell a number of parties and decide how to prioritize focus.

• One of my takeaways from the episode is the benefits possible to all of us by being out and about in the community, experiencing arts & culture alongside other people.

• Please find the episode linked below:

-

🧠 Big Question:

Can arts & culture interventions reverse the rise in depression and mental health issues?

• Our increasingly isolated lifestyles, compounded by social media use and the pandemic, have led to alarming rises in mental health issues.

  • US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy even highlighted loneliness as a public health crisis, equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes per day!

• Chris posits that more participation in arts might be a crucial tool in our collective toolkit for addressing these challenges.

  • He cited a study showing that a regular dance practice may have equivalent or superior health impacts relative to exercise for some populations.

  • And while it’s common knowledge now that exercise is foundational contributor to health, that might not have been true 30 years ago. Chris believes it won’t take another 30 years for us to prove and accept that regular participation in arts, culture, and community events is a bedrock of a whole-person healthy lifestyle.

-

💡 Bold Idea:

Healthcare payors should fund patients’ participation in the arts

• Chris is building an Atlanta-based technology company to solve a problem in the marketplace: there is an overwhelming demand for mental health services, along with an excess supply of arts & culture institutions needing participants to thrive.

  • He believes he can bridge this gap in a way that creates data-backed outcomes that healthcare providers can take to the bottom line.

• It’s a complex business model - he needs to convince the patient that they want the arts intervention, the doctor to prescribe it, the healthcare system to pay for it, and the service provider to make it available.

  • Interestingly, one of his early learnings is that doctors are willing and excited to try prescribing these interventions.

• Chris also has to navigate classic startup strategy focuses: Should they focus on a specific geography, patient population, or type of arts intervention? How can they offer a comprehensive service without being spread too thin?

-

🎯 Better Living

Being out and about participating in the arts moves the needle on wellbeing.

• When I asked Chris about the minimum effective dose of arts & culture, his answer was refreshingly simple: do something once a month.

  • Whether it’s a festival, a dance class, or a trip to the theater, getting out once a month (ideally with people you care about) can make a significant different).

• This feels both accessible and enjoyable compared to other health ‘hacks’ that can start to feel like another job (see the sunrise at morning! Do a cold plunge! No blue light before bed!)

• So if you’re wondering what to do this weekend, maybe take your mom to the theater. It’ll be good for you!
  

  -

Resources Cited:

• Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform us

—

Questions for reflection:

• Do you have a regular arts and culture practice? If so, what benefits do you get from it? Is mental health and wellbeing one of them?

  • If you hadn't thought about it that way previously, do you think you might derive those benefits from it?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Does the idea of "social prescribing" resonate with you?

-

---