Doctors in Montreal can now prescribe orchestra tickets to their patients

Doctors in Montreal are calling music a medicine.

The Montreal Symphony Orchestra has teamed up with a national physicians organization to develop a new program that allows doctors to prescribe free tickets to shows for their patients.

“Physicians will get prescriptions that they will give to patients. Patients will call us. And we will give two free tickets to every patient who calls us,” said Melanie La Couture, CEO of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. as it happens Host Nil Koksal.

“They can choose the concert they want.”

This is the latest example of what is known in Canada as social determinationIn which health care providers prescribe things that are typically outside the scope of medicine, but can have a tremendous impact on people’s health and well-being – such as art, nature, or community activities.

It’s a growing practice, and one proponent says it reduces loneliness, improves health outcomes, reduces the burden on the health care system and builds much-needed trust between doctors and patients.

Why orchestra?

When Nicole Parent, executive director of Médecins Francophones du Canada, first approached La Couture, she was looking to get a discount on orchestra tickets for physicians.

But their partnership soon turned into something more ambitious.

“There is a lot of data, evidence-based data, that has shown that music affects the body and mind in remarkable ways,” Parent said.

Listening to music releases endorphinsWhich are natural pain relievers and mood regulators. It triggers dopamineThe so-called “feel-good” hormone associated with pleasure, memory, and cognition. It reduces cortisol levelsStress hormones.

“As a result, music provides benefits, such as reducing stress and anxiety, relieving pain… and improving cognitive function,” said Parent.

But why give him musical advice instead of telling him about its benefits?

“We all know the impact a physician can have on his patient,” Parent said. “If he prescribes that intervention, there’s a better chance the patient will accept it and can go to a concert.”

not just orchestra

Kate Mulligan of the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health says a prescription also gives people a chance to try something they might not otherwise have.

Mulligan is the founder of the Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing and says people in her field are constantly gathering new data on how engaging with the arts improves people’s physical and mental well-being.

But she says many people, especially in marginalized communities, don’t always have access to spaces like theaters, orchestras or galleries — or don’t feel welcome unless they’re invited.

“So these types of programs can be really helpful in making people feel more welcome and learning what they want and need from these programs, and then help them get involved in the arts more regularly,” she said.

But she says social framing isn’t just about art. It’s about listening to the patient and finding out what matters to them.

A doctor might prescribe a spot in an exercise class, or membership in a community organization. Some doctors are prescribing access to nature as National Parks of Canada,

A Toronto doctor caused a stir a few years ago when she told a patient “puppy of choiceWalks twice a day and lots of love.”

“There are a lot of good things happening all over the country,” Mulligan said.

Ideally, Mulligan says, social prescribing involves an intermediary, usually a community health worker, whose job is to help the patient actually implement the prescription in a way that makes sense to them.

And when it works, Mulligan says the effects of social determinism are widespread.

his organization A report published last year found Social prescribing returns $4.43 for every dollar invested, largely due to reductions in hospital admissions, emergency visits and ambulance calls.

Additionally, she says it increases people’s trust in the health care system.

She added, “We also have to focus on the idea that you matter. And I don’t know about you, but that’s not a sentiment I get very often from health care systems these days.”

“You feel like you don’t want to impose, you might be a burden. All that kind of stuff comes up. You want a place where you feel like you matter and people have time for you and really listen to you.”

While Montreal’s orchestra prescription program has just started, Parent and La Couture say a number of orchestras have already expressed interest, as have other orchestras in Toronto and Quebec City.

They say they will collect data from the project as they figure out how to make it work. Then, they are expected to grow.

“This is the first step,” La Couture said. “I would love to expand that project really broadly.”