NEUCHATEL, Switzerland — The world's woes got you down? Feeling burnout at work? Need a little something extra to fight illness or prep for surgery? The Swiss town of Neuchâtel is offering its residents a novel medical option: Expose yourself to art and get a doctor's note to do it for free.

Under a new two-year pilot project, local and regional authorities are covering the costs of 'museum prescriptions' issued by doctors who believe their patients could benefit from visits to any of the town's four museums as part of their treatment.