University of Arizona partners with Art Pharmacy, joining a national movement to use creativity as a catalyst for mental health and resilience.

The University of Arizona will launch a social prescribing initiative this fall, becoming the first campus in the Southwest to formally integrate arts-based experiences into its wellness services.

Through a partnership with Art Pharmacy, the new program offers students more than traditional interventions. They may leave campus clinics not only with recommendations for counseling or medication, but with referrals to salsa classes, pottery workshops, or strolls through botanical gardens, creative outlets shown to alleviate stress, foster connection, and enhance emotional well-being.

“Art has the ability to inspire, connect, and offer perspective,” said Dr. David Salafsky, Executive Director of Campus Health. “It helps us understand the human experience and provides hope — a vital but often overlooked facet of overall health.”

The University’s program, led by Arizona Arts, is a cross-campus effort uniting the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, Student Affairs/Campus Health, and the Student Success and Retention Innovation division. Together, they will embed arts engagement into pathways that aim to prevent crises before they arise.

“Art Pharmacy is rewriting the script on health by integrating creativity, compassion, and community into traditional healthcare models,” noted Dr. Stephen Dahmer, Director of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine. “This innovative approach, already implemented in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, and soon here in Arizona, combines decades of arts and health research with social prescribing to tackle some of our most pressing health issues.”

Social prescribing, long embraced in public health frameworks abroad, is gaining momentum in the U.S. as anxiety, depression, and loneliness escalate on college campuses. The World Health Organization has called for arts and culture to play a central role in preventive health, citing strong evidence that creative engagement improves both mental and physical outcomes.

At the University of Arizona, this effort is more than novel. It is deeply strategic and mission-driven. “Our partnership with Art Pharmacy provides an innovative way to leverage the arts to support student health and wellness,” said Dr. Andy Schulz, Vice President for the Arts. “It has been exciting to forge campus-wide collaborations to bring this vision to life.”

We are proud to offer Art Pharmacy’s solution to all of University of Arizona’s students and appreciate its leadership in innovating to address student mental health,” said Art Pharmacy Founder and CEO Chris Appleton. “The social prescribing movement is growing throughout our country as anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation rates on college campuses are at an all-time high. Introducing non-stigmatized, readily available mental health interventions is critical for institutional partners looking to implement and scale social prescribing.

As social prescribing enters the higher education landscape, Arizona’s model may become a national blueprint.