Implementing social prescribing in a rural Ottawa community: collaboration between a community resource centre and a family health organization

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe a social prescribing pilot intervention that was delivered in a rural community and its impact on the health, well-being and healthcare utilization of clients. Design/methodology/approach A 10-month social prescribing pilot intervention was implemented in a family health organization which involved embedding a social prescribing link worker from a local community resource centre into the clinic to provide mental health and community resource navigation support to clients. A service evaluation was performed to measure the impact of the programme on client health, well-being and healthcare utilization. Findings There was a 43% improvement in well-being and a 23% improvement in loneliness for the small subset of participants who provided outcome measures at their first and third visits (n = 3). Hospital, emergency department and emergency medical services (paramedic) use decreased over the course of the programme for the 16 participants who completed discharge questions on healthcare utilization, while family doctor visits increased overall. Practical implications These findings support the integration of social prescribing into primary care practice through collaboration between community and healthcare organizations to potentially improve client well-being and healthcare utilization. However, these findings were based on a small number of participants who provided outcome measure data after the initial visit. Originality/value This study presents a unique model for a social prescribing intervention in a rural setting that strengthens collaboration between healthcare and community organizations and is outside of the community health centre model of care.