Brussels City Council

In 2021, the Brussels-City councillor in charge of culture and tourism launched a three-month museum prescriptions initiative involving the CHU Brugmann psychiatry department prescribing patients visits to the five public museums in Brussels: The Sewer Museum, The Brussels City Museum, The Fashion & Lace Museum, the Centrale Museum for Contemporary Art and The GardeRobe MannekenPis Museum. The concept of ‘museum prescriptions’ refers to the practice of doctors prescribing culture as a treatment for patients suffering from stress, burnout, mental illness and anxiety. Naturally, it is not an alternative to tried and tested medical approaches, instead it is supposed to function as a supplement. The cultural initiative was aimed to alleviate some of the pent up stress from the pandemic and social distancing measures.