Belgian doctors are recruiting the nation’s public museums in a three-month trial aimed at rebuilding patients’ mental health amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Patients being treated for stress at Brugmann Hospital in Brussels are to be offered free visits to five public museums in the city, covering subjects from fashion to sewage.
The results of the pilot are expected to be published next year with the intention that the initiative be rolled out further if successful in alleviating symptoms of burnout and other forms of psychiatric distress.
Alderman responsible for culture on Brussels City Council, Delphine Houba said she had been inspired by a scheme in Quebec, Canada, where doctors could prescribe up to 50 museum visits a year to patients.
In the Brussels pilot, accompanied visits would be prescribed to individuals and groups of in-patients at Brugmann Hospital.
“The COVID crisis, accentuating stress, burnout and other pathologies, has confirmed the relevance of such a project,” Alderman Houba said.
She hoped that private museums and art collections would also offer their services in future.
“I am convinced of the capacity for solidarity from all Belgian museums towards vulnerable audiences to provide them with free access and support,” Alderman Houba said.
“It has been shown that art can be beneficial for health, both mental and physical,” she said.
The institutions involved are the Museum of Fashion and Lace, the Sewer Museum and the Contemporary Art Centre.
Brussels, 3 September 2021
