Social Prescribing Lab- Design a Social Prescription for Yourself
by Sherri Jacobs at Heartland Art Therapy
Feeling isolated and looking for a community? Social Prescribing is a new social health platform
for reconnecting people back into community to alleviate loneliness. This experimental session
will introduce participants to the concepts of social prescribing, help participants create their
own social prescription and identify resources in Kansas City to implement their
prescriptions. This session will include interactive creative engagement, a space to rekindle old
interests and hobbies, and a space to reimagine something new (and concrete-with an actual
written prescription) to alleviate isolation and/or the existential dread of our complex era that
keeps us home on our couches.
This group is part of a social prescription pilot program designed by Sherri Jacobs. Social
prescribing is a public health initiative that cultivates social engagement through actual
prescriptions written by health providers to address social isolation and loneliness.
Prescriptions connect people to activities that reflect their interests through arts, movement,
volunteering, or nature engagement. This model has been implemented in 30 countries and is
very new in the United States. This experimental session will explore an avenue of social
prescribing to help participants to identify their interests and foundation for a social
prescription.
“What is the matter with you?” is the common question asked to patients by health
practitioners. Health providers who engage in social prescribing also ask the question, “What
matters to you?” Patients’ responses determine the type of social prescription they receive.
This session is part of a series of groups designed for group participation with a goal of finding
connection in shared interests, creative activity, and social engagement. This is part of a pilot
model designed to be replicated in community centers. This pilot also offers measurement tools
for tracking the success of the program and the small pilot designed by Sherri Jacobs. Kansas
City is participating in a five year pilot in partnership with The Neuro Blueprint for the Arts and ArtsKC.