Learn About Social Prescribing

Written by Ali Gangji, CSPSC Medicine Working Group member & medical student at the University of British Columbia

February 3, 2025: “I met Jade Hamilton at the offices of NexusBC, a Community Resource Centre in downtown Vernon, British Columbia. After two decades in childcare, she embraced the opportunity to explore a new career path. She pivoted to help a different generation of vulnerable people, through NexusBC. She started in the Connect Program, an Information Navigation and Referral Program, and later transitioned to her current role as a Community Connector.

Jade shared that a large portion of her clientele are vulnerable individuals, particularly those with health, financial and/or mobility challenges. Many clients’ initial contact with NexusBC begins with the free tax filing service through the Federal Community Volunteer Income Tax Program, where they first become aware of the wide range of services offered. Once referred to Jade, she provides personalized support, helping participants access and navigate various resources and services throughout the community to meet their unique needs. A particularly popular program is the Social Club for Seniors, which hosts events three times a month. These include lunch-and-learn sessions, social gatherings, workshops and partner collaborations for info sessions throughout Vernon. According to Jade, one of the most important aspects of these events is the shared meals, which promote discussion and building lasting connections in the community.

I accompanied Jade on a community visit to check in on one of her clients. This client, a lively woman in her 70s and an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, had faced significant challenges in recent years. These included a metastatic cancer diagnosis and a fire that destroyed her low-income senior apartment building. Jade and NexusBC helped her access transportation, housekeeping, food supports, counselling, social events and advocacy for safe housing after the fire. Due to barriers that technology has brought to many seniors, this senior, and many others, are unable to complete online applications for many vital benefits. Jade was instrumental in navigating the complicated programs, forms, and requirements. This allowed her client to focus on rebuilding her life after her cancer diagnosis and the fire. The client expressed gratitude for the daily check-ins and assistance with tasks like cleaning, saying the support had made a huge difference. With so many seniors facing complex needs and requiring extra support, Jade is hopeful that the organization will continue to grow and enhance its programs and services to better serve them.

Referrals to Jade continue to grow weekly. Interestingly, most referrals come from community nurses and social workers rather than physicians. When I asked Jade about barriers preventing doctors from accessing community connectors, she pointed to the simplicity of their online referral form. It requires only the patient’s name, the referring physician’s name, and a checkbox indicating whether the physician would like updates about their patient. The bigger barrier seems to be a lack of awareness about social prescribing programs; not only does social prescribing help seniors make vital social connections in the community, improving their mental health, they can alleviate doctors’ workloads by assisting seniors with non-medical tasks.

Training community connectors is another challenge. When Jade began her role, she completed a one-day social prescribing course created in Alberta and later adopted by the United Way BC, NexusBC’s primary funder. Jade feels that training would be more effective if it were tailored to the specific context of each community. This would help connectors become more familiar with local resources. She also noted that implementing such programs in larger centers could be more challenging. Distances, adverse weather, and higher turnover rates could make it harder for connectors to build expertise in local resources. Despite these challenges, social prescribing is thriving in the North Okanagan and could serve as a model for similar programs in Canada and beyond.”

– Ali Gangji, CSPSC Medicine Working Group member & medical student at the University of British Columbia

Original article published on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ali-gangji-cspsc-medicine-working-group-5b0sc