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It is our pleasure to invite you to the second International Meeting on “Social and Arts Prescribing in Health Care”, which will take place at the foothill of mount Olympus, in Greece in April 22-26 2026.
The meeting is organized after the success of Prescribing Arts 2024 which took place in Thessaloniki, Greece, in October 2024
The meeting aims at creating synergies between scientific evidence and art, research and practice, experience and policy making, imagination, creativity and rigorous testing.
As such, once again health professionals, health care policy makers, and representatives from the art world, artists and arts management, will meet in an attempt to
- Profile existing practices of successful arts prescribing in healthcare.
- Present evidence on the impact of arts prescribing on specific health issues and medical conditions
- Discuss guidelines on arts prescribing implementation within Europe.
Despite the abundance of evidence on the healing powers of different forms of art, national healthcare systems have not yet been able to capitalize on cultural heritage and art products in order to improve quality of care, and disease management. There in an increasing need for evidence-based guidelines on what types of art programs benefit which patient groups and in what way. At the same time, in we need to enhance communication between the medical and the arts world and combine the experience of arts, with evidence-based guidelines on what works and what doesn’t.
We also invite national delegates from as many countries around the world as possible to officially present the state of the art in their countries and participate in the first National Delegate Summit on Prescribing Arts, under the Coordination of Bea Walker.
The meeting is organized with the valuable support of the National Academy for Social Prescribing, in the UK, and we are also very pleased and honored to have Charlotte Osborne Ford as a co-chair of the Scientific Committee of the meeting.
The program of the meeting consists of research papers, hand-on workshops, expert roundtables, and evening jam sessions, together with an active social cultural program to experience the local Greek hospitality
Proceedings of the meeting will be published in a special issue of Frontiers in Psychology (IF:4.322)
Looking forward to welcoming you in Greece, in April 2026!
Collegiate Regards
Efharis Panagopoulou
The Meeting
The meeting will address five different aspects of Social and Arts Prescribing in Health Care.
- In-evidence: Studies examining the impact of art on development, prognosis and treatment of disease.
- In-practice: Programs by different institutions addressing different patient groups
- In-policy: Guidelines and brainstorming on how to include arts prescription in policy making
- In-education: Attempts, programs, and guidelines on how to educate health professionals at different levels on how to prescribe arts for the prevention, and treatment of disease.
- In- experience: Workshops addressing meeting participants
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Conference Themes
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We welcome contributions from different forms of art, potentially benefiting different aspects of physical and mental health and healthcare, including,
- oncology
- cardiology
- chronic disease
- neurological and degenerative diseases
- end of life and palliative care
- acute conditions
- geriatric care
- child and adolescent health
- women health
- longevity and well being
- patient safety
We welcome contributions concerning the involvement of art at all levels of healthcare, namely
- health promotion, and health education
- art in hospital settings
- art in primary care
Special emphasis will be given to the role of art on medical education, as well as the impact of art on health professional well being.
In addition to keynote lectures, the meeting will include expert round-tables, oral presentations, workshops, interactive poster sessions.
Final Program
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Wednesday
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Thursday
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Friday
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Saturday
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9:00-10:00 |
Keynote |
Looking for the Greek Gods
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Keynote |
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10:30-10:45 |
Arts
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Stretching |
Stretching |
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10:45-12:15 |
Parallel Sessions |
Parallel Sessions |
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12:15-12:45 |
Coffee Break |
Coffee Break |
Coffee Break |
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12:45-14:15 |
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NASP Roundtable |
National Delegate Summit |
Greek Drama for a life with no drama |
14:15-15:30 |
Applied
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Lunch |
Lunch |
Lunch |
15:30-16:30 |
Parallel Sessions
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Parallel Sessions
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Parallel Sessions
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16:30-17:00 |
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17:00-18:30 |
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18:30-19:30 |
Welcome address |
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Opening Ceremony |
Closing ceremony |
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19:30 |
Welcome reception |
Prescribing Art Fun Quiz Night! |
Jam Sessions |
Greek “Glenti”- Dancing |
Follow a manual added link
Applied Research Seminar- Master Class
Αbstract Submission
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The 3rd International Meeting of Arts Prescribing in Healthcare is coming to the Oracle of Delphi, Greece—the ancient Omphalos, the symbolic center of the world. Join us as we explore the power of arts, culture, and creativity to transform health and wellbeing.
Abstract submission: October 1st – December 31st 2026
Please email your abstract to: prescribingarts@gmail.com
Keynote Speakers
Check in our website for regular updates on our keynote speakers!
Coming Soon
Christopher Bailey
Christopher Bailey is the Arts and Health Lead at the World Health Organization and a co-founder of the Jameel Arts and Health Lab. Educated at Columbia and Oxford Universities as well as the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, after a career as a professional actor and playwright, Bailey joined the Rockefeller Foundation as their Research Manager, and from there was recruited to WHO where he lead the Health Informatics work and later their on-line communications team before starting the Arts and Health program. As an ambassador for the field, Bailey has also performed original pieces such as Stage 4: Cancer and the Imagination, Strangers in Time: transgenerational trauma and the arts, and The Vanishing Point: A journey into Blindness and Perception, in venues around the world, from the Hamwe Festival in Rwanda, to the Wellcome Collection in London, to the World Bank in DC, as well as Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in NY, the LA Opera, LACMA, and Warner Bros Studios in LA, and the Conservatory of Music in San Francisco, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Budapest Opera, the National Theatre of the Ukraine, and the Kennedy Center among many others. The basic message of his work is to amplify the WHO definition of health which states that health is not merely the absence of disease and infirmity, but the attainment of the highest level of physical, mental and social wellbeing. The arts have uniquely evolved to do just that.
Nisha Sajnani
Nisha Sajnani (she/her) is Professor and Director of the NYU Steinhardt Graduate Program in Drama Therapy, Chair of the NYU Creative Arts Therapies Consortium, and Founder of Arts & Health @ NYU. She is a Founding Co-Director of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, established in collaboration with the World Health Organization. Her scholarship has focused on the therapeutic factors and outcomes of drama therapy, the creative arts therapies, and the health benefits of the arts more broadly within a context of health justice. Nisha leads the Lancet Series on the Health Benefits of the Arts and has led policy efforts on the role of the arts in climate action and youth mental health. She earned a PhD in interdisciplinary studies, combining drama therapy and community economic development, from the School of Community and Public Affairs (Concordia), with postgraduate training in climate change and health (Yale) and global mental health (Harvard).
Nikos C. Stefanis MD
Nikos C. Stefanis MD, PhD, FRANZCP, is the Chairman of the First Dep/ment of Psychiatry of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School (NKUA-MS) at Eginition Teaching Hospital since September 2021. He is the Deputy Director of the University Mental Health Research Institute (UMHRI) in Greece, since 2018 and the Chairman of the First Episode Psychosis Working Group of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) and of the Early Intervention in PHe served as the country’s principal investigator for the European Collaborative Programs: European Long-acting Antipsychotics in Schizophrenia Trial (EULAST, NCT02146547,2014-2021) and European Network of National Schizophrenia Networks Studying Gene-Environment Interactions (EU-GEI, ID: 241909,2010-2015) as well as for the national program of Arts on Prescription funded by the Ministry of Culture of Greece (2023-2026).He considers his most important social contribution to be the advocacy that led to the legislation and government based funding of eight novel community-oriented early intervention services for psychosis that have been operating nationwide since 2023.
Experiences
From the Snow to the Sea
Download PDF from hereOlympus In the realm of the Gods
Olympus is a world in itself and April is the best time to discover it. And there is much to discover even if you don’t make it to the summit: gentle paths, hidden corners, towering trees, unique wildflowers and wild rocks, below and above the clouds. You can explore the foothills by car or mountain bike, but the greatest rewards will go to the hikers. As Homer described the shining palace of the gods of Ancient Greece, “Olympus was not shaken by winds nor ever wet with rain, nor did snow fall upon it, but the air is outspread clear and cloudless, and over it hovered a radiant whiteness.” (Odyssey, VI, 41)
Eighty kilometers of sandy beach
Korinos, Katerini, Litohoro, Plaka, Leptokarya, Skotina, Panteleimonas, Platamonas, Neoi Pori: all names for spots on a beach 80km long at the feet of Mount Olympus. Along this huge stretch of clean sandy beach are dozens of good restaurants and beach bars affording you a multitude of choices for a very special holiday and relaxation. The beaches of Korinos, Paralia and Olympiaki Akti are visited by both Greek and international tourists during the summer. The base of Mount Olympus and the town of Litohoro, are at a distance of around 20 kilometers from the hotel.
Walk and Talk in Mount Olympus.
Join us for an easy accessible walk in Mount Olympus and get inspired by the personalities of all the Greek Gods!
St Patrick meets Socrates Quiz!
The famous quiz, combining the Socratic Method, the tradition of pub quizzes, improvisation skills and just the desire to have fun!
Jam Sessions
Every evening we invite all conference participants artists or not to join us in creating moments of shared experiences, and joy using music, dancing, reading, talking or just sharing!
Greek drama to avoid drama
In this workshop we will discover the basic techniques of Greek drama and how using them will enable us to avoid unnecessary drama in every day life!
Surrounding attractions
Dion: Natural beauty and ancient monuments
Near Katerini, Dion is one of Greece’s most spacious and serene archaeological sites. In a setting crisscrossed by bubbling streams, you’ll find temples, Hellenistic and Roman theatres, flag-stoned streets, baths decorated with mosaics, Roman houses and villas, early-Christian basilicas and an Odeon. Don’t miss the shrine to Isis, remnants of the grandeur of Ancient Greece. Built in a swampy area, its ruins and statues appear even more poetic surrounded by greenery and with ‘their feet’ in the water. Nearby, the shrine of Demetra was one of the earliest to be excavated in Macedonia. At the Archaeological Museum of Dion on the ground floor you’ll find an exceptional trove of sculptures – statues, bas reliefs, funerary stelae, architectural elements – and other finds from the site, which was dedicated to Olympian Zeus.
Platamonas Castle
The function of a castle is to dominate an area and Platamonas must have done this brilliantly as it overlooks a huge stretch of the coast of Pieria. The high walls and well-preserved central tower date from the 10th century. While excavations have unearthed Hellenistic remains from the 4th century BC, it is the Byzantine churches and traces of the 10th-century town and later that will grab your attention.
Palios Panteleimon, a listed village
The beauty of Macedonia unfolds at your feet. This listed village has been called the Balcony of Olympus. You’ll travel back in time walking from the old village to the square filled with humongous plane trees. The view in this timeless place is stunning.
Litohoro
This picturesque town makes an excellent launch pad for your expedition up Mountain Olympus, or for your dips into the sea, if you’re not in a climbing mood. Litohoro, on the lower slopes of Mt Olympus, combines access to the sea and the mountain in a lovely green setting. Don’t forget to wander around and admire the marvelous Macedonian-style houses.
How to get there
Via Thessaloniki
The easiest way to arrive to the conference site is via Macedonia Airport of Thessaloniki.
There will be a conference bus on April 21st, 22nd and 26th for your transportation from and to the airport. Please visit the website for times and prices, in February 2026.
Alternatively, you can take a taxi from Thessaloniki airport to Katerini, or rent a car in the airport (1 hour drive). Please visit our website for more details on transportation, in February 2026.
Via Athens
Several international airlines connect major European and American cities with Eleftherios Venizelos airport in Athens. From there you can get an internal connecting flight to Thessaloniki (45 minutes) with Aegean Airlines. Alternatively, you can hire a car and drive to the conference site from Athens airport. (4 1/2 hours)
You can also take the train from the center of Athens (Larissa Station) to the city of Katerini (https://www.hellenictrain.gr/) . In order to go to Larissa Station from Eleftherios Venizelos airport you take the Metro (Line 3 – Direction Agia Marina) at station “Syntagma” you change from Line 3 to Line 2 (Direction Anthoupoli) and arrive at station “Larissa St.” (Duration: 46’) (https://www.stasy.gr/)
Registration
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Register online here!
Conference registration fees include:
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- B&B accommodation for 4 nights (22,23,24,25/4)
- Three main meals in restaurants
- Access to all sessions and exhibition areas
- Welcome Reception-Opening Ceremony
- Conference Dinner-Greek Glenti
- All Cultural events and Walking Tours
- Coffee and tea breaks
- Conference material
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Participants |
Conference |
Αrts Retreat |
Μaster |
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Main fees (Single room) |
Reduced fees (Sharing with another delegate) |
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Delegates
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1050€
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950€ |
150€ |
100€ |
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Students
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750€ |
150€ |
100€ |
Cost for additional nights prior or following the meeting
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- 150€ for double room (sharing with another delegate)
- 100€ for single room
Conference delegates who wish to share a room with an accompanying person should pay an additional charge of 400€. This includes:
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- B&B accommodation for 4 nights
- Three main meals in restaurants
- Access to all sessions and exhibition areas
- Welcome Reception-Opening Ceremony
- Conference Dinner-Greek Glenti
- All Cultural events and Walking Tours
Registration fees are indicated in Euros. All participants need to register their attendance prior to the conference. It is not possible to register or pay on site.
Participants can register only through the conference website.
Our Team
Efharis Panagopoulou, PhD
Efharis is an Associate Professor of Health Psychology and Human Factors in the Medical School of Aristotle University in Greece. She is internationally known for her work on stress and burnout in healthcare. She is the founder and Chair of the WELLMED network an International network of researchers, and practitioners and educators studying “Health Professional Well Being and Patient Safety”. She is the Chair of the Centre for Promotion of Culture and Health, in Greece and is leading arts prescription in the country. She loves drama both as a hobby and as away of expressing herself.
Vassiliki Spatoula, MD, MSc, PhD
Peggy Kioutsiouki, MSc
Froso Aspragathou, ΜSc
Venia Georgara, MSc
Centre for the Promotion of Arts and Wellbeing
