Prescribing community: Quality and Patient Safety Specialist helps bring innovative concept to Niagara Health

The social prescriber then helps the patient register for the activity and follows up to track progress.

“When it comes social isolation and loneliness, there is no pill for that,” she says. “We know people are presenting in the ED with this and we can have a tool to help with that.

“Social prescribing is about a shift from ‘What is the matter with you?’ to ‘What matters to you?’ It’s more about preventive measures.”

A shift in perspective

Those preventive measures can stave off more serious illness later on by addressing a person’s social determinants of health – the everyday conditions, like housing, food security and social supports, that shape a person’s ability to live a healthy life, according to the CISP report.

Every dollar invested in social prescribing programs delivers a return of $4.43 to society through improved well-being and reduced costs to the healthcare system and governments, the report says.

Social prescribing is already practised in more than 30 countries, Muhl notes. It’s happening “in pockets across Canada” and with the launch of Niagara Health’s Health Equity Plan, the organization is poised to be part of the movement.

“I’m thrilled to see social prescribing in the plan. I was born and raised in Niagara so it is very special to help bring something I’m so passionate about to my own community,” she says. “To see leadership team and frontline healthcare providers so eager to integrate this into the care we provide is very exciting for me.”

As a recent graduate of the PhD in Health Quality program at Queen’s University, Muhl has spent the past five years researching social prescribing.

“Eighty to 90 per cent of a person’s well-being is defined by the social determinants of health. Social prescribing offers a way to address these social factors in the care we provide,” she says.

Although the focus of social prescribing is on the patient, it also has benefits for frontline healthcare providers, she notes. It improves job satisfaction and reduces burnout by giving providers an avenue to address the social factors they encounter on a daily basis and allowing them to focus on medical care.

At Niagara Health, the hope is social prescribing can ease pressures on the ED, beginning with targeted support for socially isolated older adults.

“As a Quality and Patient Safety Specialist, I see social prescribing as being an integral part of our commitment to providing extraordinary caring, every person, every time” Muhl says.