Brussels city authorities have developed a pilot project that will allow patients to visit museums and heritage works free of charge on medical prescription for six months to improve their mental health, local media in the Belgian capital reported on Tuesday.

In what is believed to be the first European project of its kind, Brussels psychiatrists will use art and culture to help treat people suffering from stress, depression or burnout.

This project has a double objective: to promote access to culture for a vulnerable public and to provide an additional tool in the context of therapeutic follow-up, according to the local authorities.

The initiative will last six months, after which an evaluation will determine whether the project can be extended to places like the Royal Museum or the Bozar, which are under federal jurisdiction.

“The arts help all human beings to forget that we are mortal beings,” said psychiatrist Vincet Lustygier, from CHU Brugmann, the center in charge of this pilot project.

The initiative is inspired by a practice started in Quebec (Canada) in which, since 2018, doctors issued prescriptions allowing patients to visit the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts for free.

While the Canadian project used a location and an association of doctors, the Brussels version will be produced with the participation of psychiatrists from the Brugmann hospital and five cultural venues under the direct supervision of the city.

In addition to the City Museum, the Fashion and Lace Museum will also be on hand, as well as the Manneken Pis Dressing Room, where visitors can “go around the world” through the dresses of the famous Brussels sculpture. .

At the top of the list, the Central Contemporary Art Center and, finally, the Sewer Museum, which gives visitors a glimpse of the Belgian capital’s underground passages.

With regard to prescriptions, doctors will have to indicate which museum the patient wishes to visit and how many people, relatives or other relatives will accompany him.

Once the doctor has signed the prescription, the city of Brussels will pay for the patient’s tickets and those of three companions who access the cultural spaces with him.

According to the World Health Organization, the arts can play an “important role” in promoting health and treating disease.