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1. Can you briefly describe your social prescribing program and the communities it serves?

Scarlet Arts Rx is supported by the Rutgers University–New Brunswick’s Chancellor’s Office and is a collaborative effort between the university’s Mason Gross School of the Arts (MGSA) and the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP). Our program goals are to: Improve the well-being of Rutgers students through free and highly localized arts activities; educate the Rutgers community about how the arts relate to improved well-being; establish partnerships that extend the reach of the arts for well-being across campus (100+ partners per academic year); and track well-being changes. We primarily provide activities that address students’ emotional, social, environmental, and physical wellness

2. What types of social prescriptions (e.g., arts, nature, volunteering) are referred, and who serves as the connector?

We provide arts for well-being activities, but many of our activities have a nature component, including al fresco painting events in partnership with Residence Life and the Rutgers Commuters Students Association; our Jazz on the Lawn series in partnership with New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health; and our Dining with a Side of Art series in partnership with Rutgers Dining’s Healthy Dining Team, and Rutgers Gardens. The multisensory arts and walking map that we created of the campus and local community highlights both art and nature destinations. 

We have multiple connectors. GSAPP student clinicians, who are trained in arts prescribing by Scarlet Arts Rx, refer students from campus therapy clinics. Students who are interested in engaging with the arts to improve their well-being can sign up on their own. University departments and student organizations also reach out to us to request arts and well-being activities for their groups. The mobile nature of our program is unique, in that we have a team of two dozen trained student teaching artists who bring activities directly to students in their residence halls, classes, student organization meetings, student leadership training events, and more. At these events, participants learn how the arts can enhance their well-being and engage in a self-care art making session. The activity is determined in advance with our partners and is very often student driven. We also distribute free tickets to MGSA and local theatre performances.

3. How is your program funded?

Salary and programming expenses are covered by a special two-year grant from the Rutgers University–New Brunswick’s Chancellor’s Office. Our partners cover university room rental fees and typically the catered food, if any, and they sometimes help provide supplies.  

4. How has social prescribing impacted the health and well-being of the people you serve and which outcome measures do you use to measure that impact?

We evaluate the program through multiple lenses, including a quantitative PERMA+ based reflection form that is distributed at the end of events and online; qualitative analysis of event photographs; qualitative feedback from participants, partners, and student teaching artists; quantitative and qualitative feedback from GSAPP student clinician referrers; and we track social media engagement. Our outcomes have been very positive, with the majority of our student respondents agreeing that they want more arts activities for their well-being, that they have increased their understanding about the connection between the arts and their well-being, that they feel more positive emotions and more engaged, etc. 

5. What advice would you give to others looking to start a social prescribing program?

- Identify the barriers for participation. We partnered with a graduate student at Rutgers School of Public Health, who ran focus groups to learn about the different barriers for participation that students face on our campus. 

- Be responsive to student needs and desires. This will help overcome participation barriers, provide focused programming, and stimulate attendance. 

- Leverage existing resources on your campus. In our instance, we collaborate frequently with Rutgers Gardens, Rutgers Makerspace, Zimmerli Art Museum, and others who have unique spaces and resources to enhance student well-being. 

- Partner extensively with a range of campus partners. Many administrators, staff, faculty, and students desire to achieve greater well-being for the student body. 

- Collect evaluation feedback. Invite ongoing, open discussions among your staff, partners, and students to continuously improve your program.

- Pay attention to the well-being of your teaching artists, or those who are implementing your program, so they bring joy into the spaces where they are working. 

- Provide ongoing education to your campus about how the arts connect with well-being and consider the sustainability of your efforts, so this starts to become a part of your campus culture.