Social Prescribing program tackles loneliness

The Social Prescribing program in Nanaimo now has about 250 people participating in it. Photo: Lauryn Mackenzie / CHLY 101.7fm

To combat loneliness and isolation among seniors, a new program in Nanaimo will allow doctors to prescribe social connection.

According to the Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing, one in four Canadians over the age of 65 live alone and nearly 50 per cent of Canadians over the age of 80 report feelings of loneliness.

To support those 55 and older in Nanaimo who may be facing loneliness, the Nanaimo Division of Family Practice has launched a new social prescribing program in the city.

To celebrate the new program, the Nanaimo Division of Family Practice ran an event at Bowen Park on March 2 to promote the program.

CHLY spoke with Kirsten Schuld, project lead for the social prescribing program, at the event. 

Schuld explained social prescribing as a non-medical way for people to be linked with resources in the community to boost their social connections.

This comes as she is seeing loneliness increasing in seniors

“We've been seeing it for a long time, but COVID has not helped, and a lot of people are still shut in, afraid to go out, and just experiencing loneliness that's continued from the pandemic,” Schuld said. “Things are more expensive; they're just at a time in life where their relationships are decreasing, and they just need a bit of a boost.”

The program has been in the works since 2022, but the Nanaimo Division of Family Practice started the pilot project last summer.

“What that does is the physician would put your prescription in, and that goes and connects you to somebody called a link worker or a community connector,” Schuld said. “They will call you, they'll meet you for coffee, kind of, whatever you need. They'll get to know you, and they'll ask you what matters to you. They'll try and work with you to find an activity that you could get enrolled in to gain social support, to get out of your house, whatever that looks like to you.”

The program is run in partnership with the City of Nanaimo, Island Health, Shared Care, Vancouver Island University and the Nanaimo Family Life Association.

The Social Prescribing program now has about 250 people participating, and Schuld said all family doctors in Nanaimo are now aware of its existence.

If someone doesn't have a family doctor, they can still “self-prescribe” through the Nanaimo Division of Family Practice to be connected with one of the link workers.

She explained that the program will be different for each participant, as their needs and supports will vary.

“Sometimes it'll look like, ‘here's your pottery course, do you think you can get there on your own?’ Most people can't if they need this [program],” Schuld said. “So it would look like, ‘why don't I come with you? Why don't I sit down and do the pottery course with you, if needed? Why don't I introduce you to somebody that attends the course, or the leader of the course, etc.’ Then, follows up with them at the end, ‘hey, how did that work? Do you think that's a good fit? Do you need help getting there? What can we do to support you in doing this course or finding something else that's a better fit?’”

She also explains that not all activities have to be activities with other people.

“You can be lonely, and all you need to do is be around other people. So it could be a prescription to go swimming and to just get to the pool and get yourself out,” Schuld said. “It could be a Scrabble club where you actually interact with other people. It could be just experiencing art with somebody or music.”

Schuld said she has heard many success stories from those who have taken part to date. 

“One of the best quotes is somebody saying, ‘I never was smiling, and now I'm smiling again,’ or just seeing people that are just absolutely loving these connections that they're making,” Schuld said. “That's the point, those are all important.”

She said that now that the program is underway, the event on Sunday helped spread the word so everyone knows about their options to combat loneliness.

Dr. Adam Hoverman is a family doctor and preventive medicine public health physician in Nanaimo. He was one of the first doctors in Nanaimo to bring the social prescribing program to the community.

“As I say, going into family medicine, I often think about the family being the medicine. But there are many who don't have caregivers; they might have lost a loved one or be recently widowed,” Hoverman said. “So we have to think broadly about how caregiving is vital across the life course and an important part of, quite literally, responding to the loneliness and social isolation epidemic.”

He explained that there is no wrong way to do the program and that it is about finding healthy routines to connect people.

“I think that's one of the hopes I have here today, is helping this conversation be much more of a kitchen table kind of conversation,” Hoverman said. “To recognize that we all have, at some level, a need for care across our own lives. That by being human, we at some point, encounter suffering, encounter a level of need and asking for help is universal.”

More information about social prescribing can be found on the Division of Family Practice website.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.