Arts on Prescription

Social prescribing was introduced in the United Kingdom in 2019. Today, around 97% of general practitioners support its integration into the healthcare system. Nearly a quarter of the UK population is familiar with the concept, and more than 5.6 million people have already benefited from it.

But what exactly is social prescribing? Why has it become part of the UK’s public healthcare system? And could Lviv become a pioneer in integrating the arts into healthcare and psychosocial support in Ukraine?

Speakers:

• Charlotte Osborne-Ford, Chief Executive Officer of the National Academy for Social Prescribing — on the UK’s social prescribing model and insights into its implementation.
• Christopher Bailey, former Head of Arts & Health at the World Health Organization and co-founder of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab — on his journey at WHO and pathways for integrating the arts into national healthcare systems.
• Iryna Kulynych, Deputy Mayor of Lviv for Humanitarian Affairs — on the city’s arts and health initiatives and their role in supporting community wellbeing.
• Oleh Bereziuk, psychotherapist and Head of the Mental Health Service at the Unbroken Rehabilitation Centre — on the mental health challenges facing Ukrainians today and in the post-war future, as well as the role of the arts in rehabilitation at Unbroken.

Moderator:

Svitlana Soloviova, physician, clinical expert at the Association of Public Health Experts, and Chair of the NGO PROZDOROVYA.

The Arts and Health Congress is part of Healing Arts Ukraine — an arts and health campaign to support military health, veteran recovery and civilian resilience in times of conflict.

Healing Arts Ukraine was spearheaded by Art Therapy Force as part of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab’s global Healing Arts initiative. The campaign was supported by the WHO Regional Office for Europe through the EU-funded Health Resilience in the Eastern Partnership Programme and co-produced by a national coalition of organisations working at the intersection of culture, healthcare, education, and policy, including the Lviv City Council, LME ‘Lviv radio’, the Institute for Cultural Strategy, the UNBROKEN Rehabilitation Centre, and King’s College London.