Axios: Medicine goes off-script

Posted on April 16, 2026 by michelleclarke2015
1 big thing: Medicine goes off-script
Animated illustration of a prescription pad, with a sun, a tree, and a place setting drawing onto it in ballpoint pen.
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Stock: Getty Images
 
Your doctor’s new prescription might be for a fishing rod, or other goods or services you won’t find at a pharmacy, Axios’ Natalie Daher writes.

With the rise of “social prescribing,” physicians are sending patients to choirs, art studios, walking clubs and lakesides.

Why it matters: Overstretched health systems and a worsening loneliness epidemic are forcing a hard look at how social interventions can improve mental and physical health.🏥 

“The hope is that the care might not merely help address crises such as hospital waitlists and overreliance on prescription medications, but also tackle broader problems including social isolation,” Andrew Dickson writes for Bloomberg (gift link).🎨 

Social prescribing can include helping people get affordable produce, or directing patients to paint or volunteer.

Zoom in: The U.K. has been leading the charge globally. The National Health Service (NHS) has offered social prescribing since 2019, as part of a $6 billion primary care expansion.

That push has produced more than 5.5 million referrals in England over five years — far exceeding the original 900,000 target.

Social prescribing started in impoverished areas to help people with complex medical needs who also faced social and economic obstacles. The most common prescriptions still are for housing advice and debt counseling.

But nature activities and arts engagement are also common, according to the umbrella organization National Academy for Social Prescribing.🎣 

Case in point: A small nonprofit in Kent, England — Cast a Thought — has hosted 280+ participants on fishing outings funded by a mix of NHS and charitable support.

Participants may arrive with all types of overlapping conditions, including PTSD, depression and hypertension.

Evidence of health benefits from social prescribing is growing:

A large English cohort study cited by University College London’s Daisy Fancourt found that people who engage in creative activities at least monthly are roughly half as likely to develop depression.

A 2020 global meta-analysis found that surgical patients who listened to music used fewer opioids and reported less pain.📊 

Smaller efforts are spreading elsewhere:

The Netherlands has offered “well-being prescriptions” for more than 15 years, subsidizing activities like cycling clubs, museum visits and tai chi.

Social Prescribing USA, a nonprofit, is aiming for nationwide access to services like art or music therapy, dance classes and outdoor activities for every American by 2035.

The bottom line: If a day of fishing leads to one less pang of loneliness, that’s a win.Share this story.
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About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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