Social Prescribing USA Newsletter January 2024
Social Prescribing USA Newsletter January 2024
This newsletter aims to be the Social Prescribing USA Public Town Square - a central place to catalyze our growing movement in the United States. We’ll share insights from the network, philosophy on advancing the movement, and act as an idea factory of insights, plus provide updates on the rapidly growing social prescribing community,. This newsletter is co-created with the brave leaders shaping this practice nationally. Have things to share in our next newsletter? Please let us know!
Social Prescribing Day 2024
Social Prescribing Day, March 14 2024! Don’t miss it!!
On International Social Prescribing Day, in collaboration with organizations in the U.K. and Canada and in solidarity with at least 27 other countries worldwide with social prescribing efforts, Social Prescribing USA is joining this honorable group for the first time!
In honor of the day, Social Prescribing USA will have a public event in San Francisco highlighting local and national leaders in the field. Our program will feature Chris Appleton, founder of Art Pharmacy, Dr. Elizabeth Markle, co-founder of Open Source Wellness who had a recent landmark TED talk for Community As Medicine, and several Social Prescribing USA co-founders. To join us, purchase a ticket here.
We are working with 15-20 programs nationwide that will celebrate the importance of social prescribing on March 14. Interested in participating? Please consider having your program join us to support Social Prescribing Day. Contact Alan at doctoralan@gmail.com if you want to join the celebration or help with planning. Both hyper-local and larger regional and national celebrations are welcome. We want to promote SP and its new definition (see below). We are exploring having a synchronized educational webinar across the U.S. and highlighting brief videos from those doing SP nationwide.
This year, we plan to help take social prescribing in the U.S. to a new level! Many stars are lining up - the identification of the loneliness epidemic, a mental health crisis, early adoption of social prescribing instead of or in addition to therapy, an openness to change (likely borne of desperation), growing recognition of the social determinants of health post-pandemic, and a greater appreciation of the arts and nature and their healing power makes 2024 a year we will see great growth for social prescribing in the U.S.
We also plan to move Social Prescribing USA to a new stage, with funding and enhanced capacity to better advocate for you and this movement nationwide. So far, our work has all been done with volunteers. If you would like to help with this growth, please send a tax-deductible donation to SP USA at DONATE HERE. These funds will be used to have fundraising and PR events, upgrade our website, and help to promote and advocate for social prescribing.
See below for important advances in the research, potential new models of funding social prescribing, upcoming events, coverage in the media, upcoming books on social prescribing and social connection, and powerful tools.
Thanks!
Alan, Dan, and Adam
Research updates:
A Delphi study has defined an international definition for social prescribing and developed a Common Understanding of Social Prescribing (CUSP) Conceptual Framework (link below).
-BMJ Open. 2023; 13(7): e070184.
Short definition - Social prescribing is “a means for trusted individuals in clinical and community settings to identify that a person has non-medical, health-related social needs and to subsequently connect them to non-clinical supports and services within the community by co-producing a social prescription – a non-medical prescription, to improve health and wellbeing and to strengthen community connections.”
Operational definition - Social prescribing is “a holistic, person-centered, & community-based approach to health & wellbeing that satisfies Condition 1 & either Condition 2 or Conditions 3 & 4:
Condition 1: Identifier identifies that person has non-medical, health-related social needs (e.g., issues with housing, food, employment, income, social support)
Condition 2: Identifier connects person to non-clinical supports and services within the community by co-producing a non-medical prescription
Condition 3: Identifier refers person to connector
Condition 4: Connector connects person to non-clinical supports and services within the community by co-producing a non-medical prescription”
Common understanding of social prescribing conceptual framework.
Social prescribing outcomes: a mapping review of the evidence from 13 countries to identify key common outcomes. Jill Sonke, et al.
Media:
UCSF Magazine: A Prescription for Loneliness. What a tiny grassroots program in the Tenderloin is teaching doctors about healing through human connection. Ariel Bleicher, UCSF Magazine Winter 2023.
Social Prescribing: Healing People Through Community. Alison L.R. Kuhn, Christina A. Rariden. January 8, 2024. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners.
Arts-based social prescribing comes to Stanford. Stanford Report. January 29, 2024. Art Pharmacy bring arts-based social prescribing to Stanford for the undergraduates.
Change the Story / Change the World - Tasha Golden & Jill Sonke: Arts on Prescription. A great podcast about social prescribing and specifically about the Arts on Prescription Field Guide.
Upcoming books to be published in June, 2024:
The Connection Cure: The Prescriptive Power of Movement, Nature, Art, Service and Belonging by Julia Hotz. This landmark book will be the first in the U.S. about social prescribing! In this combination of diligent science reporting, moving patient success stories, and surprising self-discovery, journalist Julia Hotz shows us how to think about health outside of healthcare, and discover lasting and life-changing medicine in our communities. Science shows SP is effective for treating symptoms of the modern world’s most common ailments—depression, ADHD, addiction, trauma, anxiety, chronic pain, Parkinson’s, diabetes, and more. Other research finds that SP also helps our healthcare systems—reducing patient wait times, saving money, and even reversing health worker burnout. And as loneliness continues to infect more of us, social prescriptions can help us feel healthier than we felt before we got sick.
Kazley Killam https://www.kasleykillam.com/writing
A groundbreaking redefinition of what it means to be healthy that introduces the need for social health—the part of wellbeing that comes from feeling connected—to truly flourish.
Events:
Looking for an opportunity to reimagine what health is and how we create it? Join us for a transformative 45-minute webinar exploring the new resource, 'Arts on Prescription: A Field Guide for US Communities'. 🎨✨
Anyone passionate about leveraging arts, culture, and nature to improve health will learn how arts on prescription can revolutionize health by integrating arts, culture, and nature into local health and social care systems. 🌐Discover what arts on prescription is, explore 3 different program models, and connect with a diverse network of professionals and newcomers interested in this burgeoning work. No prior experience is required! 🌟🎉Register today: https://bit.ly/ArtsonPrescriptionWebinar
Florida Social Prescribing Happy Hour - Everyone is welcome to join - the concentration will be social prescribing in Florida. If you are interested, please get in touch with Morgan Yacoe at morganyacoe@ufl.edu.
Social prescribing is at South by Southwest (SXSW), known for setting and promoting trends, on March 11. Social Prescribing: Bridging the Gap Between Art, Well-Being. Field trip anyone?!
Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing 1st conference 9/26/24-9/27/24: Advancing Social Prescribing for Health and Wellness. Let’s have our U.S. contingency!!
Potential funding sources for social prescribing:
New York State has completed a new 1115 Medicaid waiver, including funding that might be used through the lens of social prescribing. CMS approved this waiver to advance health equity and strengthen access to primary and behavioral health care across the state by improving support for safety net hospitals, addressing critical housing and nutritional support, enhancing access for substance use disorders, and supporting the health care workforce. This is a new and inspiring model of how social prescribing could be funded more systemically - and one that we will explore more in future newsletters.
Tools:
Arts on Prescription Field Guide. UF, Mass Cultural, Dr. Tasha Golden
A Toolkit on How to Implement Social Prescribing | World Health Organization
Social Prescribing: A Resource for Health Professionals. 2023 Centre for Effective Practice, Canada