Caitlin Muhl, a quality and patient safety specialist at Niagara Health, is a proponent of social prescribing, which has been included in the organization's Health Equity Plan.
It’s often said it take a village to raise a child, but Caitlin Muhl knows community also plays a vital role in helping someone heal – and thrive.
That community includes doctors and nurses, personal support workers and other frontline providers. It also extends to the art class, hiking group, fitness coach, community food pantry and book club – among others – who can play critical roles in promoting health and well-being, the Niagara Health Quality and Patient Safety Specialist says.
“We’re missing so much if we don’t consider the social factors in addition to the medical factors,” Muhl says.
Muhl joined Niagara Health in June 2024 to help frontline healthcare workers to address non-medical factors that impact health and well-being when treating patients. She's particularly interested in the concept of social prescribing.
Social prescribing is a key feature in Niagara Health’s Health Equity Plan, unveiled earlier in April, which is Celebrate Diversity Month at Niagara Health. The plan serves as a guide to creating a more inclusive and responsive hospital system, ensuring that every person, regardless of their background, circumstances or how they identify, feels empowered to seek care when they need it.
“Social prescribing expands the toolbox that frontline healthcare providers have at their disposal when providing care,” Muhl says. “It gives them a tool to address non-medical issues.”
What is social prescribing?
Social prescribing is a person-centred, holistic approach that connects patients to community resources to address basic non-medical needs, emotional well-being and social connection.
An independent assessment commissioned by the Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing (CISP) found the concept leads to better health outcomes across all age groups – especially older adults and youth. These groups have reported improved overall well-being and significantly reduced use of healthcare services.
“Social prescribing is about a shift from ‘What is the matter with you?’ to ‘What matters to you?’ It’s less about being reactive and more about preventive measures.”
Put into practice, an older man who frequently visits the emergency department (ED) might be referred by their physician to a social prescriber within the hospital who identifies an underlying social need, such as loneliness or isolation, which Muhl says is as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
From there, the social prescriber would spend time with the patient, explore their needs, interests and strengths, and co-create a treatment plan that taps into community activities, groups or other resources.
Media coverage often simplifies social prescribing as a doctor telling a patient to take a walk in nature, but Muhl says it’s more nuanced than that. The social prescription reflects what matters to the patient. For the lonely older man presenting in the ED, that might mean joining a woodworking group, dance class or community garden where he can connect with his peers.
The benefits of social prescribing
- Every dollar invested into social prescribing programs delivers a return of $4.43.
- Among older adults, social prescribing supports aging at home and can lead to fewer hospital admissions, emergency visits and ambulance calls. That results in improved quality of life and saves healthcare $268 million a year.
- Social prescribing among youth can support their mental health, improve education attainment and result in an additional $59 million in employment income annually.
- Across all age groups, social prescribing can foster meaningful social connections and a sense of community, improving mental and physical health, and significantly reducing use of healthcare services.
Source: Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing
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.
