Your ticket to better health!

big ideas

performing arts centers are community health centers

Performing Arts Centers enhance the health and well-being of their communities through their productions, programming and outreach.

Did you know? Attending a performance 1 – 2 times per month has similar health value as exercising 1 – 2 hours per week.

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arts education is public health

Youth who engage in the arts have improved mental and psycho-social health outcomes.

Did you know? Students who engage with the arts are 24% less likely to experience depression and 22% less likely to engage in substance use.

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arts & culture are essential to well-being

Access to arts and culture is a social determinant of health.

Did you know? Research now shows that arts participation is a positive health behavior, so providing equitable access to the arts is among njpac’s top priorities.

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events

Harmonizing Health: The Transformative Power of Arts in Maternal Well-being

Prescribing Creativity: Promoting Health Equity through Arts on Prescription

Cultivating Advocacy: Leveraging the Arts for Food Justice

Like exercise and good nutrition, the arts are good for our health.

OUR INITIATIVES

arts in health research lab

The Arts in Health Research Lab is a collaborative, interdisciplinary Research Lab in partnership with Rutgers School of Public Health and Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts. It conducts innovative arts in health research in the state of New Jersey and is creating a research and evaluation framework to measure the impact of NJPAC programs.

What makes this unique:

This is the first-in-the-nation partnership between a school of public health, a school of the arts, and a performing arts center. With focuses on research, education, and community development, it will help build the next generation of arts in health researchers.

ARTS IN HEALTHCARE

NJPAC is bringing the arts into healthcare facilities throughout the RWJBarnabas Health System, piloting at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. The arts programs enhance the healthcare environment for patients, staff and the community.

Programs include:

Artists in Residence: Our specially trained artists visit patients at the bedside to improve their experience and provide opportunities for joy and creative expression.
Culture Connects: Artists and performers bring vibrant and interactive programming to staff cultural celebrations.
Music in the Lobby: Local musicians perform regularly in hospital lobbies for patients, staff, visitors and the community.

ArtsRX

Through ArtsRx, our social prescribing program, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey members and Rutgers University Newark students receive referrals for six months of free arts prescriptions across the City of Newark. Participants are attending shows at NJPAC, classes at Glassroots, dancing at Newark Symphony Hall, knitting at the Newark Public Library (and more!) and improving their health and well-being through the arts.

What makes this unique:
ArtsRx is the first social prescribing program in the nation to include a health insurer as a primary partner.

Why this matters:
This program increases access to arts and culture, improves health equity and health outcomes, and promotes engaging with the arts for wellness.

health promotion

We’re engaging with health partners to produce events and programs that use the arts to address local health priorities and increase access to health services and information. Our focus is on using the arts and creativity to address the state’s most pressing needs including mental health, social isolation, and maternal health.

Why this matters:
The arts offer a vehicle to create empathy, change minds and communicate health messaging to drive positive behavior change. As a trusted messenger and community partner, NJPAC can improve access to health and wellness information, promote a broader public understanding of the value of arts/culture, and increase access to the arts, which drives health equity.

training + education

To date, there is no open-source resource available to artists for skill building, networking, benchmarking, and resource sharing. NJPAC and Rutgers Arts Online will fill this gap by developing affordable, accessible online education courses to enable evidence-based use of the arts for health promotion and wellness in communities nationwide.

Why this matters:
As a social prescribing model is implemented, demand for arts and cultural programming will increase rapidly in communities across the nation. In turn, artists and arts organizations will need resources to prepare to provide arts programming that is safe and effective in enhancing health and well-being.