Policy and Action Roundtable: Social Prescribing in Southwestern Pennsylvania

Policy & Action Roundtable. November 4, MCG Jazz. TOPIC: Social Prescribing

Wednesday, November 4, 20269 - 11:30AM

Manchester Craftsmen's Guild - MCG Jazz Concert Hall (1815 Metropolitan St., North Side)

This event is wheelchair accessible

$15

Across the country, health systems, policymakers, and people-centric organizations are turning to social prescribing, connecting people to non-clinical, community-based resources, including the arts, as part of how we support health and well-being. Southwestern Pennsylvania has the ingredients to build something real here: a strong arts ecosystem, engaged health systems, and policymakers ready to listen. On November 4, we are convening a room where we hope to bring those pieces together.

We're bringing together leaders from the arts field, policy, philanthropy, and healthcare to move past the concept and into specifics:

  • Where, and in what ways, can social prescribing deliver real impact in our region?
  • What could social prescribing mean for our regional arts ecosystem?
  • What policy and funding infrastructure needs to be built to support it?

This is the second in the Arts Council's Policy and Action Roundtable series, designed not just as a conversation but as a working session, panel insight, small-group discussion, and shared next steps, so that everyone in the room leaves as a thought partner rather than a spectator.

Purchase a Ticket

Featured Panelists

Courtney Abegunde (she/her)

Smiling portrait of woman with shoulder length curly dark hair wearing a black-and-white shirt

Courtney Abegunde is a mental health advocate and Managing Director of Steel Smiling, whose mission is to bridge the gap between Black folks and mental health support. Courtney's work is grounded in a simple belief that communities have the capacity to care for one another when they have the support, knowledge, and resources to do so. She is committed to building that capacity and creating spaces where people can heal, connect, and thrive.

Chris Appleton (he/him)

A smiling portrait of a man with short gray hair wearing a blue jacket and tie

Chris Appleton is Founder and CEO of SocialRx, a healthcare services company providing social prescribing services to address the dual mental health and loneliness crises. Chris holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management and has spent his career innovating at the intersection of creativity, systems change, and public good.

Jessica Benham (she/her)

Smiling portrait of woman with long brown hair, wearing a bright blue suit

Jessica Benham is the State Representative for Pennsylvania House District 36, covering portions of the City of Pittsburgh and its suburbs. As a state representative, she has focused on increasing public safety, fighting for access to healthcare, a clean and healthy environment, fair funding for education, and LGBTQ and disability rights.

Matt Hurford (he/him)

Portrait of a smiling man with short brown hair and facial hair wearing a black suite

Dr. Hurford is the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Community Care Behavioral Health Organization, the nation’s largest not-for-profit behavioral health managed care organization. As part of the UPMC Insurance Services Division, Community Care provides behavioral health coverage for one million Medicaid beneficiaries in 41 Pennsylvania counties.

Sushma Kola (she/her)

Smiling portrait of a woman with long brown hair wearing white scrubs

Sushma Kola, MD, is a movement disorders neurologist and Director of Integrative Neurosciences at Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh, PA. She earned her medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, completed her neurology residency at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and pursued dual fellowships in Movement Disorders and Integrative Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL.

What is Social Prescribing?

Social prescribing is a practice that connects people to non-clinical, community-based resources, including the arts, nature, exercise, volunteering, social groups, and more, as a formal part of how their health and well-being are supported. Rather than treating a prescription as limited to medication, a clinician, social worker, or care navigator can "prescribe" a museum membership, a dance class, or a volunteer opportunity, addressing the social and environmental factors that shape health but sit outside what a typical doctor's visit can touch. The approach links individuals, particularly those managing chronic conditions, mental health challenges, or social needs, to non-clinical community-based services meant to improve physical, functional, mental health, and overall well-being. The term originated in the United Kingdom in the 1970s and gained wider adoption through the National Health Service (NHS) Long Term Plan, and it has since spread through Europe, into Canada, and, more recently, the United States.

In England, where the model is most mature, social prescribing referrals exceeded NHS targets of 900,000 patients, with between 1.1 and 1.4 million patients referred in 2023, and the share of referrals reaching people in marginalized communities rose from 23% to 42% between 2017 and 2023. A large-scale 2026 analysis tracking nearly 20,000 UK patients found statistically significant improvements in well-being in the months following a social prescribing referral, including a 3.31-point increase on the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, a 1.59-point increase in reported happiness, and a 1.45-point decrease in anxiety. A national UK evaluation of social prescribing across 3,339 participants found a social return on investment of £1.88–£2.42 for every £1 spent. 

Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to scale social prescribing statewide, building on a six-year pilot with significant evidence that arts-based social prescribing is an effective, cost-effective treatment option. Massachusetts rollout was  in partnership with SocialRx. 

Ahead of the Policy & Action Roundtable, we're also publishing a series of first-person essays on the importance of arts and culture as a strategy in health and wellness. 

Below, we'll share the featured voices as their stories are shared. We invite you to read the series over the next few weeks on our blog at pittsburghartscouncil.org/blog.

Featured Voices

Mary Schinhofen (she/her)

A smiling portrait of a woman with long gray hair wearing a brown and maroon sweater
Guest Blog Contributor

A native Pittsburgher, Mary Schinhofen was born and raised on the North Side. Mother of five children, seventeen years a teacher, and lover of bumblebees, she now lives in Bloomfield, where she paints, writes, participates in Osher courses, and sometimes bakes cookies.

Event accessibility is our priority

The Arts Council is committed to making its programs accessible to everyone - even virtual events. If you require an accommodation or service to fully participate in this event, please email info@pittsburghartscouncil.org at least two weeks prior to the event. Event accommodations may include ASL; Open Captioning; Audio Description; digital, large-print or Braille materials, etc. If an accommodation would be helpful and the lead time is less than two weeks, please let us know so we can make every effort to help you fully participate. To learn more, check out our Event Accessibility page.