Picture this: you’re having trouble sleeping or your digestive system is playing up, so you go to your GP expecting another course of pills. But, instead, you walk away with a ticket to the ballet or instructions to join a choir.
This is social prescribing, and it’s taking off in a big way, with hundreds of general practices in England regularly referring their patients to take part in cultural activities, often with a focus on prevention, early intervention, and the management of long-term ailments.
‘Many things that affect our health can’t be treated by medicine alone. For example, loneliness, isolation or stress,’ says Sunita Pandya, chief operating officer at the National Academy for Social Prescribing. ‘Social prescribing connects people to non-medical support, to address these
