As a young adult, Chris Appleton struggled with his mental health and emotional well-being—a breaking point that led him toward sobriety at 19.

Along the way, he found that the healing power of the arts became a key part of his long-term recovery.

Today, Appleton has turned that personal experience into a research-based approach to supporting college students’ mental health.

In 2022, he founded Art Pharmacy, an Atlanta-based health care services company that uses social prescribing—the practice of referring patients to community-based activities such as dance workshops, art classes, museum visits and nature walks—to address student well-being, including mental and behavioral health and loneliness.

“Connecting students to life-affirming, life-enriching resources and making it easier for them to participate gives young people a permission structure,” Appleton said. “This isn’t just extracurricular programming—it’s integrating these community-based activities into a care pathway.”

Appleton said Art Pharmacy works with campus counseling and psychological services, student affairs and other departments as prescribing partners. Those partners issue electronic referrals to Art Pharmacy care navigators, licensed clinical social workers who assess students’ needs and connect them with community partners offering arts and cultural activities.

He added that a key part of social prescribing is allowing students to bring a friend with them to the community-based activities.

“If we’re trying to do things like boost connection and belonging, [and] reduce isolation and loneliness, we should enable students to do things with friends and loved ones,” Appleton said.

Art Pharmacy has partnered with colleges nationwide, including Stanford University and the University of Arizona, to integrate social prescribing into mental health resources, which can be stretched on some campuses.

Early results suggest the model is helping students. More than 70 percent of participants reported improvements in their overall mental health and well-being, while about 60 percent saw reductions in symptoms such as depression and anxiety.

Among students who screened positive for depression or anxiety at intake, nearly 70 percent later reported fewer symptoms in those areas.

That progress comes against a bleak backdrop: Inside Higher Ed’s most recent annual Student Voice survey, which fielded responses from more than 5,000 undergraduates, found that fewer than 30 percent rated their mental health as above average or excellent.

“It’s heartbreaking that students on a college campus …aren’t physically isolated, yet still feel so lonely,” Appleton said. “That’s why it’s so important to connect them with other people and engage them in pro-social activities like these.”

Campus buy-in: Deborah Cullinan, vice president for the arts at Stanford University, said campus buy-in for social prescribing happened quickly.

“We thought we were going to have to convince people and help them understand why this was a good idea,” Cullinan said. She noted that Stanford now has about 40 prescribing partners across campus, from student services and residential programs to the athletics department.

Cullinan said Art Pharmacy’s report on Stanford students shows that social prescribing is linked to a roughly 20 percent increase in well-being.

“A lot of what you hear is that people just want the opportunity to breathe, to do something a little outside of their day-to-day, and often to engage with other students,” she said.

Aaron Barnes, director of counseling and psychological services at the University of Arizona, said he was initially skeptical of Art Pharmacy’s social prescribing approach, but the results speak for themselves.

“What stands out with Art Pharmacy is that they’re offering something our students actually want to engage with,” Barnes said, noting that over 90 percent of participants attend and actively engage in the activities they’re prescribed.

Barnes said the pandemic has shifted how young people socialize. Before taking part in social prescribing, more than 80 percent of participating students screened positive for anxiety and loneliness, and about 60 percent screened positive for depression.

“When we were approached with the possibility of adding a program like this, it sort of struck a chord with what we needed,” Barnes said. “A way to provide an experience outside of the therapy room that would immerse our students in the community.”

“And what kind of student wouldn’t want free tickets for a show, the zoo or a pottery class?” he added.

Why it matters: Appleton said “loneliness” and “belonging” are among students’ top concerns, and higher education leaders need to take them seriously as they shape their approaches to student success.

“If we define student success narrowly, as in just academics, maybe it sounds optional,” Appleton said. “But if we define student success the way campuses actually experience it today, then it’s definitely essential.”

He added how social prescribing helps reach students who might not otherwise seek traditional mental health support.

“Most campus mental health systems are designed around counseling centers, but many students never walk through that door,” Appleton said. “Social prescribing creates additional nonclinical entry points that feel accessible and relevant.”

Barnes agreed, noting that feeling isolated and lonely makes it harder for students to study, engage in class and seek help.

“Mental health is a community responsibility,” Barnes said, adding that immersing students in arts and cultural activities helps ensure they feel like they belong.

For Cullinan, the opportunity lies in embedding the arts directly into campus support systems.

“We know that the arts are transformative, and we know that they can change people’s lives, so we should be integrating them into our systems and structures,” Cullinan said.

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