{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T03:27:44Z","timestamp":1791862064519,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,14]],"date-time":"2025-05-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1747180800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Med."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>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).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>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\u202f\u00b1\u202f17.6, 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\u2019 baseline characteristics were also recorded.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>There was a significant improvement of both WEMWBS (\u22640.001) and EQ-5D (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u202f\u2264\u202f0.002) scores between after and before the MMFA visit. The increase in WEMWBS score was positively associated with self-reported unhappiness (coefficient of regression beta (\u00df)\u202f=\u202f15.15 with 95% confident interval (CI)\u202f=\u202f[4.30,25.99] and <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u202f=\u202f0.007) and the presence an acute disease (\u00df\u202f=\u202f10.76 with 95% CI\u202f=\u202f[3.15,18.37] and <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u202f=\u202f0.006).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Interpretation<\/jats:title><jats:p>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.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Clinical trial registration<\/jats:title><jats:p><jats:uri>https:\/\/clinicaltrials.gov\/study\/NCT05445453<\/jats:uri>, identifier NCT05445453.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2025.1590145","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,14]],"date-time":"2025-05-14T05:40:51Z","timestamp":1747201251000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Physician-prescribed museum visit benefits on mental health: results of an experimental study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Olivier","family":"Beauchet","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adeline","family":"Moret","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Melanie","family":"Deveault","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Claire","family":"Thiboutot","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nicole","family":"Parent","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"H\u00e9l\u00e8ne","family":"Boyer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kevin","family":"Gal\u00e9ry","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being? 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