For many college students, navigating academic demands, social changes, and the transition to adulthood can take a toll on emotional well-being. At the University of Arizona, a new initiative led by Arizona Arts aims to support student mental health in a creative way — by tapping into the healing power of the arts.
Research shows that nearly 40% of college students experience mental health challenges, leading to an increase in anxiety, depression, and loneliness. While traditional services offer critical support, the arts can provide a meaningful complement — helping students process emotions, reduce stress, and build new coping strategies.
Through a partnership with Art Pharmacy – a national organization focused on mental health – trained health care providers and care teams on campus will prescribe arts and culture-based interventions. These creative prescriptions will support students facing a range of health concerns.
“Arizona Arts ensures that all students, regardless of major, have opportunities for meaningful arts engagement during their time at the U of A,” said Dr. Andy Schulz, vice president for the arts and dean of the College of Fine Arts.
“Our partnership with Art Pharmacy provides an innovative way of achieving that mission by leveraging the arts to support student health and wellness. It has been exciting the forge partnerships across campus to create and deliver this program, and visionary supporters and donors to the arts have made it possible. I can’t wait to see the impact!”
A Campuswide Effort
The partnership includes campus partners the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, Student Affairs, Campus Health and Student Success and Retention Innovation. The University of Arizona is the first university in the Southwest to offer Art Pharmacy’s services.
Once a student is referred to Art Pharmacy, a care navigator will contact them to learn about their wellness goals and arts interests. The navigator will then put together a personalized slate of arts and culture experiences. These activities, known as “doses,” might include participating in a workshop, taking a class or attending a performance. All associated costs, like tickets and transportation, are covered for the student and a guest, making the process low-pressure and barrier-free.
“Art Pharmacy is rewriting the script on health by integrating creativity, compassion, and community into traditional healthcare models,” said Dr. Stephen Dahmer, director of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine. “This innovative approach combines decades of arts and health research with social prescribing to tackle some of our most pressing health issues.”
The company is working with campus groups such as Arizona Arts Live, the University of Arizona Museum of Art and the Poetry Center, along with community arts organizations throughout Tucson, to build a robust network of experience options for students.
“Art has the ability to inspire, connect, and offer perspective,” said Dr. David Salafsky, executive director of Campus Health. “It helps us understand the human experience and provides hope – a vital but often overlooked facet of overall health. We look forward to bringing more of these transformative experiences to our students to support the health of our community.
Arizona Arts Supporters
The three-year pilot program is being underwritten by Arizona Arts supporters, including lead donor Peggy Goulding, a trained dietitian/nutritionist with over 40 years of experience in health care. Goulding has supported many local organizations and believes in sharing resources to help solve community-level issues.
“Helping young people deal with the many mental health issues in today’s world is of paramount importance to me,” said Goulding. “Based on my experience in health care and my appreciation of the healing power of the arts, I believe this program will be beneficial to the students at the University of Arizona.”
Art Pharmacy
Art Pharmacy, which partners with health providers and universities in several states, said its first higher education partnership with Stanford University has resulted in 84% of referred students attending events and 80% reporting mental health improvement, based on its diagnostic tests.
“We are proud to offer Art Pharmacy’s solution to all of University of Arizona’s students and appreciate its leadership in innovating to address student mental health,” said Art Pharmacy Founder and CEO Chris Appleton. “The social prescribing movement is growing throughout our country as anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation rates on college campuses are at an all-time high. Introducing non-stigmatized, readily available mental health interventions is critical for institutional partners looking to implement and scale social prescribing.”
Art Pharmacy reduces wait times and improves health outcomes for participating students through its tech-enabled, human-powered social prescribing solution. By working with the university’s campus partners, Art Pharmacy will pursue the goal of improving student well-being and reducing the risk of crisis care.