Arizona Arts Rx, the innovative arts + culture prescription program, in partnership with SocialRx, wrapped its inaugural year with results that exceeded expectations.
First-year outcomes include that 91% of students with poor mental health at intake demonstrated improvement in mental health and well-being and 60% of lonely students reported feeling less lonely.
This campuswide initiative — available to all students on campus — was spearheaded by Arizona Arts in partnership with several campus units, including the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, Student Affairs, Campus Health and Student Success and Retention Innovation.
When a student visits a campus health provider for anxiety, depression or loneliness, they might leave with a prescription, not for medication, but for a night at the theater or an afternoon at a glassblowing studio.
That’s the premise behind the program that connects students to vetted arts and culture experiences across campus and Tucson as a complement to traditional mental health care. The University of Arizona is the first university in the Southwest to offer services through SocialRx.
The program launched in fall 2025 as the first of a three-year, philanthropically funded pilot. Year one wrapped with results that exceeded expectations.
By the Numbers
The first-year outcomes tell a compelling story:
- 91% of students with poor mental health at intake demonstrated improvement in mental health and well-being
- 89% of students with elevated behavioral health symptoms saw reduced concerns
- 76% of all participating students showed improvement in mental health and well-being
- 60% of lonely students reported feeling less lonely
- 80% of referred students showed up to their activities
- Students rated their experience a 9 out of 10 for overall satisfaction
- More than 60 Southern Arizona organizations joined Arizona Arts Rx as community partners
As the year progressed, students increasingly gravitated toward hands-on engagement. Early on, the majority attended performances and exhibitions as audience members. By mid-year, that balance had shifted: students were signing up for participatory experiences, including glassblowing at the Sonoran Glass School, jewelry making, drawing classes, music-making in downtown Tucson and more.
“You will feel terrified doing all these things, but it is so worth getting to expand on how you express yourself, being able to relax and just get out of this bubble you find yourself in,” said Harrison Bradley, a graduate student in the Wyant College of Optical Sciences, who began participating in January. “Because depression and anxiety feed off of themselves, they really do, and just to push yourself outside, even if it doesn’t get you out of your rut, it definitely helps and is so worth just trying.”
A Community That Showed Up
More than 60 Southern Arizona organizations joined Arizona Arts Rx as community partners in its first year. That level of buy-in caught even SocialRx off guard.
On-campus partners include:
- Arizona Arts Live
- Center for Creative Photography
- University of Arizona Poetry Center
- University of Arizona Museum of Art
Off-campus partners include:
- Sonoran Glass School
- Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block
- Tucson Symphony Orchestra
- Fox Tucson Theatre
- Rialto Theatre
- Ballet Tucson
- La Rosa
- Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures
- Pima Air and Space Museum
- Reid Park Zoo
- SAACA and many others
Critically, community partners are compensated for their participation rather than asked to donate services. It’s a model designed to sustain the program long-term and honor the value of what arts organizations bring to the table.
Filling a Gap in Student Care
Arizona Arts Rx was designed to address something campus health providers had been navigating for years: a growing number of students who came in struggling but didn’t always meet the threshold for clinical intervention. The program gives providers a structured, meaningful option for those students — and a safety net to catch anyone whose needs escalate.
“Not every intervention needed is clinical,” said Dr. Aaron Barnes, director of counseling and psych services. “SocialRx helps counseling centers to do what counseling centers are supposed to be doing — and that’s to provide professional counseling and mental health support.”
Dr. Stephen Dahmer, executive director of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, one of the program’s founding partners, sees it as an expression of treating the whole person. “Healthcare isn’t just about caring for the sick or only about pharmaceuticals,” he said. “We can look outside the box for other interventions — and sometimes we forget that not too many of our interventions are fun.”
What’s Ahead
Heading into year two, Arizona Arts Rx aims to expand its referral pipeline beyond CAPS to include academic advisors, grow its community partner network toward 100 organizations, and explore well-being add-on pathways for students seeking additional support. Prescriptions will continue through the summer, including virtual options for students who have returned home. The program’s first year demonstrated what becomes possible when arts, health and community align around students. Year two will build on that foundation — and move the University of Arizona closer to making Arizona Arts Rx a permanent part of how it cares for the whole student.
- U of A program prescribes art, culture to combat student loneliness, Arizona Daily Star
- U of A program treats anxiety with art and theatre, Tucson Spotlight
- Arizona Arts Rx