Social Prescribing USA

03/23/2026

This Thursday, March 26th, is International Social Prescribing Day (if you haven't heard!). And Social Prescribing USA plans to celebrate in a BIG way. That day, we will not only have a FREE webinar on arts and health and arts prescribing (see below), but we will be releasing our public report from the first U.S. Social Prescribing Leadership Summit we held late last year in New Jersey. Thanks to so many great people and organizations in the country (and beyond), we really see the movement developing in this country and want to use the energy around this celebration this week to push the movement forward by focusing on select areas and priorities. Please join on Thursday to be part of it (Registration in comments below)!

03/19/2026

Exactly one week to go to International Social Prescribing Day on March 26th. And what better time to congratulate one of our speakers for our FREE webinar that day, Dr. Daisy Fancourt who was named UNESCO Chair for Arts and Global Health! You can read more about this exciting appointment at the link below from UCL and register for our webinar, which focuses on arts and health and arts prescribing at the link in the comments:

Professor Daisy Fancourt (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care) has been announced as a new UNESCO Chair in Arts and Global Health.

03/15/2026

We know that Bloomberg news requires a subscription, but we wanted everyone in our network to know that it featured a big article on social prescribing in the U.S., including an interview with our co-founder and Executive Director, Dr. Alan Siegel. The article touches upon many aspects of the global movement, including momentum in the U.S. for the practice.

We were excited to see that the article also mentions the great arts and health research by Social Biobehavioural Research Group's Daisy Fancourt as she (and others) will be part of our upcoming FREE international social prescribing day program on March 26th (link to register below). Find someone who has a subscription to Bloomberg (especially if you are affiliated with a college/university) so you can read the whole piece!

As health care systems around the world come under strain, physicians are turning to a much older form of social medicine.

02/26/2026

The ONE MONTH countdown to International Social Prescribing Day (March 26th) is officially...ON! Groups around the World, including here in the U.S. will be celebrating the organizations, people, researchers, patients and citizens who are helping integrate the arts, nature, service, and movement into health care. This will be the THIRD year that groups in the U.S. participate in the global celebration, and we are pleased to be hosting a FREE webinar on arts prescribing that day. Want to learn more, to register for our event, or let us know what you will be doing to celebrate? Click the link below for more information:

https://mailchi.mp/socialprescribingusa/newsletter-sp-day-2026

02/10/2026

The countdown to International Social Prescribing Day on March 26th is...ON! We are pleased to officially announce our special program for the day, The Art Of Prescribing: Advancing Arts-based Pathways to Health. This program will look at the great momentum of the arts and health movement and the great strides that arts prescribing has made in the U.S.

We have three great speakers, including Daisy Fancourt of Social Biobehavioural Research Group at UCL whose very new book, Art Cure: The Science of How Arts Saves Lives, is a big hit! Also participating will be Dr. Jill Sonke, one of the top arts and health researchers in the U.S., and Mark Clague who is leading great new arts and social prescribing efforts at the University of Michigan. It should be a GREAT event for a big day for social prescribing around the World!

To register, please visit: https://www.socialprescribingusa.com/webinars-events

02/09/2026

REMINDER: If you are a health professional, join us TONIGHT (February 9th) at 5PM PST for our HP social prescribing champion group!

Tonight, we will be featuring special guest, Peichi Waite, Ed.D., Director of Rutgers-New Brunswick's Scarlet Arts Rx. She will share insights into their successful arts prescribing program, its impact, and practical insights for launching social prescribing initiatives.

Meeting Details:
Date: Monday, February 9, 2026
Time: 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm PT

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88571176593?pwd=MNLKFwMA5YXC1LugFlWidJueUrazMW.1

About the Health Professional Social Prescribing Champions
Vision: To educate and empower healthcare professionals to advocate for social prescribing and increase awareness both within their fields and the general public while promoting clinical excellence, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

See you tonight!

02/06/2026

We are very excited to see that the new book, Art Cure, from our friend, Dr. Daisy Fancourt, is getting such great attention this week! Below, is a fun and helpful piece from the popular The New York Times - Well - Health Newsletter about Dr. Fancourt's new book, which focuses on the growing arts and health movement. The piece notes that the arts are “the forgotten fifth pillar of health,” alongside diet, sleep, exercise and nature. We are particularly excited about the book because it is bringing increased attention to the growing arts prescribing movement in this country and around the World. We had a chance to speak with Dr. Fancourt this week about her new book; our interview can be found in the comment section below:

This “fifth pillar of health” is often dismissed as entertainment.

02/05/2026

We have been looking forward to the publication in the U.S. this week of the new book, Art Cure: The Science of How Art Saves Lives, by our friend, Daisy Fancourt of UCL. Since its publication last month in the UK, the book has made waves in the arts and health world. Thankfully, we had a chance to connect with Daisy about the excitement around her book and why she thinks we are in a "seatbelt" moment for arts and health and arts prescribing. You can read our exclusive interview with her at this link, and stay tuned for information on how you can sign up for our talk with Daisy and others on International Social Prescribing Day on March 26.

https://www.socialprescribingusa.com/blog/fancourtinterview

01/28/2026

We are pleased to announce our next Health Professional Champions webinar in February. In next month’s meeting, on Feb. 9, we are excited to feature Peichi Waite with Rutgers University—New Brunswick. As the Director of Scarlet Arts Rx, she will share about their free arts and well-being program for new Rutgers-Brunswick students. It is one of many university-based programs that are using the arts as a health intervention for students.

The free webinar will take place from 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm PT. Zoom link in comments below:

Get the Zoom link in comments, below

01/27/2026

Social Prescribing USA is proud to have partnered with our friends and colleagues at the Foundation for Social Connection on the development of the new report released today, US Social Isolation, Loneliness, and Connection (SILC) Ecosystem Map and State of the US Ecosystem Report — the most comprehensive snapshot to date of who’s advancing social connection across the country. This report is critical to our work as social connection is a critical building block of the entire social prescribing movement here in the U.S. and around the world.

Drawing on insights from 60+ organizations across nonprofits, government, and coalitions at every level, this inaugural report establishes a critical baseline for understanding and strengthening a rapidly growing but fragmented field. While awareness and evidence linking social connection to health and well-being continue to grow---and we do our best to share this growing body of research with you----the findings underscore a persistent gap between attention and action.

In the report, the map and report help clarify where coordination and collaboration can make the biggest difference — and where investment is most urgently needed. We encourage of all of our followers to read this report and share with your own networks and communities!

Efforts to address social isolation, loneliness, and connection (SILC) are growing across the country. These efforts span sectors, geographies, and levels of influence — but until now, there has been no centralized way to see the ecosystem as a whole.

01/25/2026

Wow! Here's another great example of the progress of the social prescribing movement in the U.S. Our good friend, Julia Hotz, author of the Connection Cure (the first book in the U.S. on social prescribing, was featured in a lengthy on CNN with the high profile Dr. Sanjay Gupta late last week. Watch (and share the video) below or listen to the podcast in the comments. Julia stresses one the key messages of social prescribing: health care needs to integrate the question What Matters to You? as much as What's Wrong with You?

Doctors have long prescribed pills and procedures. But for some people, that isn’t enough. Sanjay sits down with Julia Hotz, author of The Connection Cure, t...

01/23/2026

it's an exciting week for our San Francisco-based team members as global social prescribing leaders, Kate Mulligan of the Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing and Dr J.R. Baker of ASPIRE Australian Social Prescribing Institute of Research and Education are in town to discuss their efforts to spread social prescribing within their countries. Included in their itinerary was a meeting at Kaiser Permanente where, along with our Executive Director, Dr. Alan Siegel, M.D., the three discussed the incredible global momentum of the social prescribing movement. Here are the three outside of Kaiser's Oakland headquarters.