Jakarta (ANTARA News) – A group of Canadian doctors have started prescribing visits to art galleries to help patients suffering from various illnesses regain their health.

Quoted by AFP, this collaboration between the French-speaking Association of Physicians of Canada (MFdC) and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MBAM) allows patients who suffer from several physical and psychological illnesses to go there free of charge to enjoy the health benefits of art with their loved ones.

This pilot project has never been created before in the world, organizers said.

Doctors participating in the project will prescribe up to 50 visits to the MMFA during treatment, with each pass valid for a maximum of two adults and two minors.

So far, 100 doctors have joined the project, said Nicole Parent, director of the MFdC.

These numbers prove that doctors are “sensitive and open to alternative approaches if you want them,” Parent said, citing scientific evidence on the health benefits of art.

The benefits are similar to those patients get from physical activity, encouraging the release of hormones that cause feelings of happiness and can help with everything from chronic pain to depression, stress and anxiety. anxiety.

This pilot program allows providers to collect data and analyze the results, enabling the development of patient identification procedures.

Parent hopes that other museums in Canada will follow in the footsteps of the MMFA, which has been developing art therapy for people with various illnesses since 2016.

“I am convinced that in the 21st century, culture will be what physical activity for health was in the 20th century,” said MMFA director Nathalie Bondil in a press release.

“Cultural experiences will benefit health and fitness, just as exercise contributes to physical fitness,” he said.