Journalist Julia Hotz explores how community activities and resources can be used to fight common ailments like depression, ADHD, chronic pain, and loneliness.
Third Place Books is pleased to welcome journalist Julia Hotz to our Lake Forest Park store to celebrate her new book, The Connection Cure: The Prescriptive Power of Movement, Nature, Art, Service, and Belonging. The Connection Cure explores the practice of "social prescribing," where, instead of defaulting to pharmaceuticals, medical personnel connect patients with community activities and resources. Julia will be introduced by Luke Wall, director of Only7Seconds, a local nonprofit that aims to end youth loneliness.
This event is free and open to the public. For important updates, RSVP is highly recommended in advance. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book!
About The Connection Cure. . .
In this combination of diligent science reporting, moving patient success stories, and surprising self-discovery, journalist Julia Hotz helps us discover the lasting and life-changing power of social prescribing.
Traditionally, when we get sick, health care professionals ask, “What’s the matter with you?” But around the world, teams of doctors, nurses, therapists, and social workers have started to flip the script, asking “What matters to you?” Instead of solely pharmaceutical prescriptions, they offer “social prescriptions”—referrals to community activities and resources, like photography classes, gardening groups, and volunteering gigs.
The results speak for themselves. Science shows that social prescribing is effective for treating symptoms of the modern world’s most common ailments—depression, ADHD, addiction, trauma, anxiety, chronic pain, dementia, diabetes, and loneliness. As health care’s de facto cycle of “diagnose-treat-repeat” reaches a breaking point, social prescribing has also proven to reduce patient wait times, lower hospitalization rates, save money, and reverse health worker burnout. And as a general sense of unwellness plagues more of us, social prescriptions can help us feel healthier than we’ve felt in years.
As the first book on social prescribing, The Connection Cure empowers you to find, experience, and implement this revolutionary medicine in your own community. While touring the globe to investigate the spread of social prescribing to over thirty countries, Hotz meets people personifying its revolutionary potential: an aspiring novelist whose art workshop helps her cope with trauma symptoms and rediscover her joy; a policy researcher whose swimming course helps her taper off antidepressants and feel excited to wake up in the morning; an army vet whose phone conversations help him form his only true friendship; and dozens more. The success stories she finds bring a long-known theory to life: if we can change our environment, we can change our health. By reconnecting to what matters to us, we can all start to feel better.
Praise for The Connection Cure. . .
"A provocative, profound, and pleasurable read on surprising remedies for modern malaise. With the ideal blend of journalistic skepticism and humanistic optimism, Julia Hotz makes a compelling case that our well-being depends even more on our connections than we realize."
—Adam Grant, author of Think Again and host of the podcast Re:Thinking
"A brave, fascinating, and persuasive read—and will soon become the definitive book on social prescribing. Full of integrity, humor, and great storytelling, this book will change lives, and possibly the world."
—Dr. Michael Dixon, OBE, author of Time to Heal and former NHS National Lead for Social Prescription
"With interesting stories and a broad canvas, Hotz connects readers to a different way of thinking about health and wellness."
—Kirkus Reviews
Julia Hotz is a solutions-focused journalist and award-winning author of THE CONNECTION CURE—the first book chronicling the science, stories, and spread of social prescribing. She helps other journalists report on evidence-backed ideas at the Solutions Journalism Network, and advises health organizations like Walk with a Doc and Social Prescribing USA. For her work on social prescribing, she has spoken at TEDx, taught in medical schools, and delivered keynote speeches at international conferences.
Want a signed edition of the featured book, but can't make it to the event? Order through our website or over the phone, and write your request for a signature or personalization in the comments field at checkout. Please call the hosting store if you're placing your order within 24 hours of the event.
For media or access inquiries, please email
ZXZlbnRzIHwgdGhpcmRwbGFjZWJvb2tzICEgY29t or call our Lake Forest Park store at (206) 366-3311.
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