Physician-prescribed museum visit benefits on mental health: results of an experimental study.

BACKGROUND

Art and cultural activities have been associated with health benefits. The effects of a physician-prescribed museum visit on the mental health of patients remain to unclear. This study aims to examine the effects of a single visit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA, Montreal, Quebec, Canada), prescribed by a physician, on the wellbeing and quality of life of patients living in Montreal (Quebec, Canada).

METHODS

The study used a pre-post intervention, non-randomized single-arm, experimental design with prospective data collection. A total of 86 patients (mean age 51.5 ± 17.6, 82.6% female) completed the study. The intervention consisted in a single MMFA visit prescribed by a primary or secondary care physician. Well-being and quality of life were assessed before and after the MMFA visit using validated self-questionnaires completed on a web-based platform including the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) and the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D), respectively. Participants' baseline characteristics were also recorded.

RESULTS

There was a significant improvement of both WEMWBS (≤0.001) and EQ-5D ( ≤ 0.002) scores between after and before the MMFA visit. The increase in WEMWBS score was positively associated with self-reported unhappiness (coefficient of regression beta (ß) = 15.15 with 95% confident interval (CI) = [4.30,25.99] and  = 0.007) and the presence an acute disease (ß = 10.76 with 95% CI = [3.15,18.37] and  = 0.006).

INTERPRETATION

A physician-prescribed visit to the MMFA was associated with improved mental health. These results suggest that museums could play a valuable role as partners in care pathways for patients in primary and secondary healthcare settings.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05445453, identifier NCT05445453.