Arts on Prescription: Observed changes in anxiety, depression, and wellbeing across referral cycles

Abstract

Objectives: Arts on Prescription (AoP) interventions are partof mainstreamsocial prescribing provisionin primary health care. Whilst the body of evidence for AoPinterventions has been developing, this has primarilyfocusedonwellbeing. Study Design: The present work is an observational longitudinal study on a community-based AoP social prescribing intervention in the South West UK. Method: The present study assessedchanges inanxiety, depression, and wellbeingin a cohort of patients participating in up to twoeight-weekcycles of AoP. The sample consisted of 245 individuals referred into the programme from 2017to 2019, with a sub-sample of participants (N=110) with identifiable multimorbidity. Outcomesweremeasured pre-and post-interventionat both initial and re-referral. Results:Anxiety, depression, and wellbeingwere all significantly improved after initial referral, re-referral, and overall from initial to post re-referralfor this interventionin the whole sample and multimorbid sub-sample. Multivariate analyses revealed that no participant variables appeared to account for the variance in outcome change scores. Conclusion: The research providesfurther support for AoP interventions,finding associations with reduced anxiety and depression and increased wellbeing. Additionally, these outcomes are evidenced inthose with multi-morbidity, as well as across initial-and re-referral cycles.