An Arts on Prescription Programme: Perspectives of the Cultural Institutions

Research on Arts on Prescription (AoP) programmes are on the increase and the participants’ positive mental health outcomes are well-documented. However, there is insufficient research that considers the participating cultural institutions’ perspectives. A qualitative focus group interview was conducted with the participating culture institutions in an AoP project in Denmark. Representatives from seven cultural institutions participated in the interview. The data was transcribed and analysed using Braun and Clark’s (Qual Res Psychol 3(77):77–101. https://​doi.​org/​10.​1191/​1478088706qp063o​a, 2006) thematic approach. The cultural institutions were positive about the interdisciplinary collaboration with the Center for Mental Health and benefited from working with groups of people with mental health problems. They considered the collaboration to have encouraged skills development by working with groups that they did not regularly engaged with. If cultural institutions are to engage with the mental health wellbeing agenda then policy-driven initiatives can support collaborations that involve groups of people with mental health problems.