For generations, we\u2019ve understood health widely through the lens of medicine. When people struggle physically or emotionally, our \ufb01rst instinct is to ask what treatment\u00a0 they need, or what diagnosis can explain their su\ufb00ering. But another question worth answering is: What makes people well in the \ufb01rst place?\u00a0<\/p>\n
At a time when anxiety, polarization and isolation have become de\ufb01ning challenges across America, the question deserves more attention than it receives. As technology advances and social media saturates our daily lives, we\u2019ve built a society that increasingly disconnects us from what makes us human. Our mental health is a consequence of that disconnection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the Prebys Foundation began supporting mental and behavioral health initiatives, we realized that there simply aren\u2019t enough clinicians in the world to meet the need. However, there are extraordinary community assets that can support our health system.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Across the country, communities are beginning to rediscover something many cultures have long understood: healing doesn\u2019t just happen inside clinical settings. It happens in relationships with other people, with creativity, and the natural world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Modern research is validating this ancient wisdom. The growing movement of social prescribing connects people to non-clinical, community-based activities like arts, movement or time spent outdoors to improve their well-being. Many health systems have started to adopt social prescribing not only as a complement to medical treatment, but as a preventative approach to reduce the need for more intensive care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although San Diego did not invent social prescribing, we are in a unique position to advance the movement. Our region has spent decades establishing and protecting remarkable cultural and natural assets because they enrich our quality of life. The opportunity lies in recognizing them as part of our health infrastructure rather than amenities. As loneliness, isolation, and a lack of belonging are themselves a health risk, we\u2019re exploring how these assets can help our ability to heal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That realization led to the Prebys Foundation\u2019s Healing Through Arts and Nature initiative that connects the community with experiences in arts, culture, and nature. In partnership with nonpro\ufb01ts, arts and cultural institutions, and healthcare providers, we\u2019re changing how we think about healing and strengthening evidence of the bene\ufb01ts. The goal is not to elevate any one organization or program, but to strengthen an ecosystem in which healing is understood as a shared responsibility and opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The stories emerging from this work are already illustrating how creative engagement impacts both\u00a0mental\u00a0and\u00a0physical\u00a0health.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Youth participating in programs like \u201cUn Mar de Colores\u201d are building con\ufb01dence and relationships through education, mentorship, and the outdoors. Families speak not only about how their children are more engaged in school, but happier and more hopeful about their future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At another end, we have the older adult population, who are more often than not aging alone or away from the outdoors. <\/p>\n
Older adults with Parkinson\u2019s disease and their caregivers are \ufb01nding renewed mobility, joy and connection through dance programs like San Diego NeuroDance at Malashock. While medicine remains essential, so does relationship building.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If\u00a0experience\u00a0has\u00a0taught\u00a0us\u00a0anything,\u00a0it\u00a0is\u00a0that\u00a0mental health cannot be solved exclusively inside exam rooms. Communities themselves can become places of healing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As\u00a0research\u00a0continues\u00a0to\u00a0measure\u00a0outcomes,\u00a0we\u00a0can\u00a0already\u00a0see\u00a0the\u00a0field\u00a0of\u00a0arts\u00a0and\u00a0health\u00a0is growing momentum across the nation. In New York, the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund has spent years advancing the arts as a powerful tool for healing. This year it partnered with the Jameel Arts and Health Lab to launch the\u00a0Healing Arts New York Network<\/a>\u00a0to increase collaboration among healthcare providers and arts organizations.\u00a0<\/p>\n San Diego\u2019s work reflects that same momentum while building on strengths that are uniquely our own. We\u2019ve seen the strength of our arts community and how they aren\u2019t optional but indispensable. We\u2019ve seen arts organizations, community, and philanthropy work together to create something greater than the sum of our individual efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n In\u00a0many\u00a0ways,\u00a0we\u00a0have\u00a0engaged\u00a0in\u00a0a\u00a0profound\u00a0cultural\u00a0struggle\u00a0over\u00a0our\u00a0own\u00a0humanity.\u00a0We\u00a0are facing an important choice about the kind of society we want to build. We can continue drifting toward greater isolation, or we can intentionally reconnect with one another and with the experiences that make us fully human.\u00a0<\/p>\n Oliphant is the president and CEO of the Prebys Foundation and lives in Carlsbad.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For generations, we\u2019ve understood health widely through the lens of medicine. When people struggle physically or emotionally, our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[964,975,74,76,75],"class_list":["post-443044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-commentary","tag-opinion","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}