Alongside Talk Community, social prescribing plays a key role in improving the health and wellbeing of people in ourcommunities making Herefordshire a better place to live and work.
Health and wellbeing can be affected by many things such as our finances, where we live, what’s going on at home or our relationships at home and at work. People may visit their GP because they are feeling stressed, lonely and isolatedor experiencing low mood. However, health and wellbeing can be improved in many ways that may not be by medicine or doctorsalone, and that’s where social prescribing comes in.
The Social Prescribing Academy states that:
“Social prescribing connects people to practical and emotional community support, through social prescribing link workers, who are based at GP practices and take referrals from all local agencies. Link workers have time to build trusting relationships, start with what matters to the person, create a share plan and introduce people to community support.”
Social prescribing Link Workers connect people to a range of activities that are typically provided by the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Sector (VCSE). This could include volunteering, creative activities, gardening, befriending, healthy eating advice and a range of physical activities.
Social prescribing enables people take more control of the management of their healthcare needs through activities which interest and engage them.
