The incorporation of nonpharmacologic interventions that affect mental health and well-being has gained ground in recent years, alongside a growing need for more integrative care models. In this context, the Madrid Society of Family and Community Medicine (SoMaMFyC) has launched the first structured group for art and culture prescription in primary care in Spain, an initiative that seeks to bring to the clinical setting an approach that, until now, has been fragmented and poorly systematized.

The starting point rests on a gradual paradigm shift. The World Health Organization already highlighted the potential of the arts as a therapeutic asset in 2019, and recently, an agreement has been formalized between Spain’s Ministry of Health and Ministry of Culture to integrate the arts into healthcare, with a special focus on mental health and the humanization of care. However, the distinctive value of this proposal lies in its implementation in primary care consultations.

Art Prescribed Clinically

The group emerges as an evolution of an experience begun at the Centro de Salud Universitario Santa Hortensia, Madrid, Spain, where for years artistic activities involving patients were held in the waiting room. María José Álvarez-Pasquín, a family physician and participant in the project, told Univadis Spain, part of the Medscape Professional network, that those first initiatives — focused on opera, film, and music — made it possible to explore “the relationship of different art forms with health in the scientific literature” and to confirm their acceptance by both patients and professionals.

Building on that trajectory, the new group adopts a more structured approach. It is a multidisciplinary team that brings together health professionals, artists, and patients, with the objective of advancing from community experience toward formal prescription. In the words of Álvarez-Pasquín, the initiative seeks “to promote the integration of art and culture prescription into the practice of family medicine as a complementary tool to improve health, well-being, and equity.”

This shift in focus is significant because it does not merely introduce cultural activities into the health environment; it proposes defining clinical criteria, indications, and patient profiles in which these interventions may have a therapeutic role.

Integrating Social Determinants

One of the central elements of the project is its fit within a primary care model that integrates social, emotional, and cultural determinants. As Álvarez-Pasquín emphasized, prescribing art and culture “constitutes an innovative, evidence-based strategy that complements conventional clinical care.”

Clinical interest is especially relevant in contexts such as chronic disease, emotional distress, or unwanted loneliness, where traditional biomedical interventions show limitations. In this regard, the project points not only to potential benefits for patients but also to an impact on healthcare professionals themselves and the healthcare environment. 

Nevertheless, the group’s own development reflects that the available evidence is still limited and heterogeneous. Some lines of work — such as pilot studies on anxiety and depression in young people or community interventions linked to gender-based violence — suggest benefits but require validation in larger, more methodologically rigorous studies.

From Idea to Practice

Beyond preliminary results, the initiative introduces a deeper reflection on the role of primary care. The person in charge of the project explicitly states, “Prescribing art and culture in primary care is a form of rebellion that humanizes healthcare.”

That statement encapsulates the project’s approach but also its main challenges. Real implementation of this type of intervention requires accessible community resources, specific training, sufficient time, and, above all, a body of evidence that allows identification of which patients and under which conditions such interventions may be beneficial.

In this respect, the proposal from the SoMaMFyC opens a line of work with potential but still in its consolidation phase. Its trajectory will depend largely on its ability to translate a conceptually solid idea into a tool that is available and evaluable in everyday clinical practice.

Álvarez-Pasquín declared having no relevant conflicts of interest in relation to this project.

This story was translated from Univadis Spain, part of the Medscape Professional Network.