Let's connect Ohioans to arts, nature, movement, and social activities as a pathway to better health — working alongside healthcare providers, community organizations, and the people we serve.
Social prescribing is a model of care delivery that enables health professionals to formally prescribe non-clinical community activities — including the arts, movement, nature, and volunteering — to improve patient health and wellbeing, often at minimal patient cost.
Rather than relying solely on medication or clinical interventions, social prescribing recognizes that many factors affecting health are social in nature: loneliness, lack of purpose, financial stress, and disconnection from community. A trained link worker or social prescriber helps connect individuals to the right activities and organizations in their local area.
The model originated in the United Kingdom, where over 3,000 social prescribing link workers now operate within the NHS. It has since spread globally, with growing adoption across the United States — and Ohio is poised to lead the way.
Known as "Arts on Prescription," this includes painting, singing in choirs, attending theater, or taking craft classes to improve mood and reduce anxiety.
Connecting people to exercise groups, walking clubs, or dance classes to improve physical health and reduce the risk of chronic conditions.
"Green social prescribing" involves gardening, conservation volunteering, or nature walks to boost mental health and increase connection to the environment.
A core tenant that fosters community by connecting people to lunch clubs, support groups, or community centers to reduce isolation and loneliness.
Enabling people to contribute to their community, which improves self-esteem, sense of purpose, and mental health outcomes.
Assisting with non-medical needs like housing, debt, or unemployment that are major drivers of poor health outcomes.
A typical social prescribing journey begins when a healthcare provider identifies that a patient's health concerns have significant social or lifestyle components. Rather than (or in addition to) a clinical referral, the provider connects the patient with a link worker — a trained community navigator who takes time to understand the person's needs, goals, and interests.
The link worker then connects the patient to appropriate community activities: an art class at a local museum, a community garden, a singing group, a men's shed, or a walking group. Follow-up support ensures the individual is settling in and benefiting from the activity. The result is a more holistic model of health that treats the whole person.
Our mission is to enhance social prescribing across Ohio — scaling a model that connects healthcare with community to address loneliness, chronic disease, and the social determinants of health.
The Ohio Social Prescribing Collaborative exists to advance and scale social prescribing practices across the state of Ohio by educating healthcare professionals, mapping community assets, building referral infrastructure, and convening stakeholders from health, arts, community development, and policy sectors. We believe that health is shaped by where and how people live — and that community is medicine.
Train healthcare workers, social workers, and community navigators in social prescribing principles and referral practices.
Build a comprehensive asset map of Ohio's arts, wellness, nature, and social programs available for prescription.
Create referral pathways and link workers who bridge clinical care and community resources.
Champion policy changes that support social prescribing reimbursement and infrastructure at state and national levels.
Collect and share data on outcomes so the evidence base for Ohio social prescribing continues to grow.
Develop replicable models that can spread across all 88 Ohio counties, from urban centers to rural communities.
The evidence base for social prescribing has grown substantially over the past two decades, with robust findings from the UK, Canada, Australia, and increasingly the United States.
Ohio faces outsized challenges that social prescribing is uniquely positioned to address: high rates of opioid-related mortality, persistent rural health disparities across Appalachian Ohio, an aging population in many communities, and decades of deindustrialization creating social and economic fragmentation.
At the same time, Ohio has extraordinary assets: world-class arts and cultural institutions in Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati; Federally Qualified Health Centers serving rural communities; robust community health worker infrastructure; and a network of universities, hospitals, and nonprofits ready to collaborate.
The Ohio Social Prescribing Collaborative is the connective tissue — the organization that brings these assets together with a shared framework, shared language, and shared ambition to make social prescribing a standard part of how Ohio delivers care.
We are building the infrastructure for social prescribing to scale across Ohio through several interconnected initiatives.
Developing and delivering curriculum to physicians, nurses, social workers, community health workers, and care coordinators across Ohio. Our training introduces social prescribing principles, teaches practitioners how to identify patients who would benefit, and provides practical tools for making community referrals. We are currently reaching out to medical schools to explore opportunities to embed social prescribing education into existing curricula and continuing education frameworks.
Status: Curriculum development phase. Reaching out to medical schools.
Building a comprehensive, publicly accessible database of community assets across all 88 Ohio counties that can serve as destinations for social prescriptions — arts programs, cultural institutions, nature spaces, volunteer opportunities, community centers, gardening programs, fitness groups, and more. The asset map will be integrated into clinical workflows and accessible to link workers statewide.
Status: Initial dataset live. Ongoing community submissions accepted. County-by-county outreach underway.
Hosting roundtables bringing together healthcare providers, arts organizations, policymakers, public health officials, community organizations, and people with lived experience of social prescribing. Roundtables will survey local needs, celebrate innovations, align stakeholders, and build the political will needed for systemic change.
Status: Monthly Zoom convenings underway. In-person roundtables planned for Fall 2026.
Working with Ohio legislators, the Ohio Department of Health, foundations, and Medicaid/Medicare partners to explore reimbursement models for social prescribing link workers and community referral services. Drawing on models from the UK NHS, Canadian Health Authorities, and pilot programs in California and Massachusetts. Goal: create a sustainable funding stream so social prescribing link workers can be embedded in clinical practices statewide.
Status: Stakeholder mapping in process. Initial legislative conversations underway.
Specifically focused on building bridges between Ohio's arts organizations and the healthcare system. Working with museums, performing arts organizations, community arts centers, and artist-run programs to develop health-partnered programming and referral protocols. Goal: make arts-based social prescriptions a routine and accessible option for Ohio clinicians and patients.
Status: Partnership conversations with Playhouse Square, Cleveland Museum of Art, and regional arts councils underway.
Explore programs and organizations across Ohio that can serve as destinations for social prescriptions. Hover a pin to preview, click to visit the program website. Filter by type below.
📍 Know a program that should be on this map?
All 31 programs on the map, listed alphabetically. Click any name to visit.
Our monthly gatherings bring together the Ohio Social Prescribing community for updates, presentations, and open conversation. Zoom links are sent exclusively to mailing list members. to receive access.
Monday, February 23 · 2:00 PM ET · Online via Zoom · Topic: Asset Mapping Launch & Healthcare Education Update
Monday, April 20 · 2:00 PM ET · Online via Zoom · Topic: Roundtable Planning & Featured Speaker TBA
🔒 Zoom links are sent to mailing list members only. to receive meeting access and reminders.
Goal review, website & asset map feedback, roundtable planning, working group formation, education initiatives
Founding discussion: overview of social prescribing, introductions, collaborative formation
🔑 Meeting ID: 922 8697 2335 · Passcode: 681837
Recordings and notes are shared with mailing list members only.
Annual webinar celebrating Social Prescribing Day, featuring national leaders in the field.
Register →National Organization for Arts in Health annual gathering for arts and health practitioners.
Learn More →Interactive map and report visualizing the full landscape of organizations working to address social isolation and loneliness across the US.
Explore →A curated collection of national organizations, toolkits, research databases, and networks for practitioners, advocates, and community members.
NOAH builds community to amplify, educate about, and advocate for the power of the arts to improve health and wellbeing for all people. Includes toolkits, publications, and a job board.
Visit NOAH →National Assembly of State Arts Agencies provides strategy samplers and resources for state-level arts and health integration.
Visit NASAA →NEA Military Healing Arts Network providing veterans arts and clinical program funding across the country.
Visit Creative Forces →Champions creative arts expression as a path towards improved health, specifically addressing loneliness and isolation.
Visit Project UnLonely →Breaking new ground at the crossroads of science, the arts, and technology — advancing the science of arts, health, and wellbeing.
Visit NeuroArts →The leading US organization for social prescribing. Enables health professionals to formally prescribe community activities to improve patient health.
Visit SP USA →Enables personalized social prescribing services with healthcare, university, corporate, and government partners to address the nation's most intractable health challenges.
Visit Art Pharmacy →A searchable collection of peer-reviewed research, reports, and evidence documenting arts in health practice, outcomes, and evaluation across healthcare and community settings.
Search Database →A curated library of research, news, toolkits, and international resources on arts and social prescribing, maintained by the first statewide arts-on-prescription program in the US.
Explore Resources →UH Hospitals integrative health monthly updates
Interactive map of organizations working to address social isolation & loneliness across the US
Annual national social prescribing webinar series
A model state program newsletter worth following
Whether you're a healthcare professional, arts organization, community member, researcher, or policymaker — there's a place for you in the Ohio Social Prescribing Collaborative.
Updates on Ohio social prescribing progress, national news, resource spotlights, and upcoming events.
Access to our monthly Monday gatherings, past recordings, and meeting notes — exclusively for mailing list members.
Ability to submit programs to our growing Ohio asset map and access the full directory.
Connect with social prescribing advocates, practitioners, and organizations across Ohio.