The Missing Link: Why Social Prescriptions Deserve a Place in Economic Strategy
05/20/25 • 31 min
Despite mounting clinical evidence for art therapy, nature therapy, music therapy, and dance therapy, Social Prescriptions remain on the periphery of U.S. healthcare. But the issue may not be proof of concept — it’s proof of value.
This episode argues that Social Prescriptions should be seen not just as wellness tools, but as strategic levers for economic development, long-term cost savings, and workforce readiness. If we want to see Social Prescriptions scale in the U.S., we need to speak the language of systems, incentives, and return on investment.
We unpack the Federal Reserve’s own commentary on “missing markets” — the gap between high-impact community solutions and the formal infrastructure needed to scale them — and show how Social Prescriptions fit squarely in that space.
From Park Rx programs that drive traffic and funding to public lands, to creative therapies that improve mental health while stimulating local economies, Social Prescriptions are already creating real impact. But until that impact is economically legible, it will likely remain unrecognized — and less than scalable.
Starting and Scaling Social Prescriptions Webinar Series hosted by CISP starting June 18, 2025: https://www.afhto.ca/news-events/events/starting-and-scaling-social-prescribing
Sources used in this episode:
- March 2025 Webinar: The State of Social Prescribing in United States
- May 2025 Jameel Arts & Health Lab Conversation Series
- Creative Arts Therapies: Evidence and Examples of Practice
- Social Prescribing USA: https://www.socialprescribingusa.org/
- Park Rx America: https://www.parkrxamerica.org/
- The Campaign to End Loneliness: https://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/
- National Academies of Sciences – Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults: https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25663/social-isolation-and-loneliness-in-older-adults-opportunities-for-the
- U.S. Surgeon General Advisory on Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation (2023): https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf
- UK National Health Service – Social Prescribing Overview: https://www.england.nhs.uk/personalisedcare/social-prescribing/
- World Health Organization: Social Prescribing Toolkit (2023): https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240072674
- The King's Fund – What is Social Prescribing? https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/social-prescribing
Despite mounting clinical evidence for art therapy, nature therapy, music therapy, and dance therapy, Social Prescriptions remain on the periphery of U.S. healthcare. But the issue may not be proof of concept — it’s proof of value.
This episode argues that Social Prescriptions should be seen not just as wellness tools, but as strategic levers for economic development, long-term cost savings, and workforce readiness. If we want to see Social Prescriptions scale in the U.S., we need to speak the language of systems, incentives, and return on investment.
We unpack the Federal Reserve’s own commentary on “missing markets” — the gap between high-impact community solutions and the formal infrastructure needed to scale them — and show how Social Prescriptions fit squarely in that space.
From Park Rx programs that drive traffic and funding to public lands, to creative therapies that improve mental health while stimulating local economies, Social Prescriptions are already creating real impact. But until that impact is economically legible, it will likely remain unrecognized — and less than scalable.
Starting and Scaling Social Prescriptions Webinar Series hosted by CISP starting June 18, 2025: https://www.afhto.ca/news-events/events/starting-and-scaling-social-prescribing
Sources used in this episode:
- March 2025 Webinar: The State of Social Prescribing in United States
- May 2025 Jameel Arts & Health Lab Conversation Series
- Creative Arts Therapies: Evidence and Examples of Practice
- Social Prescribing USA: https://www.socialprescribingusa.org/
- Park Rx America: https://www.parkrxamerica.org/
- The Campaign to End Loneliness: https://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/
- National Academies of Sciences – Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults: https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25663/social-isolation-and-loneliness-in-older-adults-opportunities-for-the
- U.S. Surgeon General Advisory on Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation (2023): https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf
- UK National Health Service – Social Prescribing Overview: https://www.england.nhs.uk/personalisedcare/social-prescribing/
- World Health Organization: Social Prescribing Toolkit (2023): https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240072674
- The King's Fund – What is Social Prescribing? https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/social-prescribing
Previous Episode
Inside the Pitch Taking on Big Pharma and Dog Rescue
In this milestone 10th episode, Stacie brings us behind the scenes in a Real Life Business study--a detailed walk into the pitch deck of The Human-Canine Alliance--a bold plan to reimagine mental health care and animal rescue in one unified solution.
See the pitch deck slides on YouTube!
Learn about TH-CA's omnipresence approach across multiple channels and insights into the pitch deck's content. Stacie outlines how The Human-Canine Alliance aims to integrate rescue dogs into social prescriptions to provide emotional, physical, and cognitive benefits, and she introduces their AI-powered app for matching rescue dogs with individuals with mental health needs.
Call for expert guests! Stacie is seeking guests to discuss mental health, therapeutic work with dogs, and social prescriptions.
Tune in to hear how we connect the dots to disrupt the current norms.
Sources used in this episode:
- CDC: Mental Health in the U.S. https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/index.htm
- NIMH: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness
- Statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1362491/us-mental-health-market-size/
- American Psychological Association: Medication vs Therapy: https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2022/report
- ASPCA: Shelter Statistics: https://www.aspca.org/animal-homelessness/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics
- NIH: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-working-expand-science-human-animal-bond
- HABRI: https://habri.org/research
- U.S. VA: https://www.research.va.gov/currents/0619-PTSD-service-dogs.cfm
- World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/health-topics/traditional-complementary-and-integrative-medicine
- U.S. Surgeon General Advisory on Loneliness (2023): https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf
The Human-Canine Alliance (TH-CA) - The Missing Link: Why Social Prescriptions Deserve a Place in Economic Strategy
Transcript
Why does Big Pharma spend millions advertising drugs you can't even buy without a prescription? Because they know a secret.
Big pharma knows that if you walk into your doctor's office and ask for a pill by name. You will probably get it and you'll probably keep taking it. They are not providing options. They're creating demand for pills and for profit.
in America, we have been convinced that medication is the only answer. I'm just saying if demand drives supply, maybe we should st
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