It’s Social Prescribing Day!
This annual celebration recognises Social Prescribing Link Workers, local community groups, and regional and national organisations that support people’s health and wellbeing.
Some health issues, like loneliness, social isolation, stress, or anxiety, can’t be fixed by doctors or medicine alone. Social prescribing helps connect people to community services that support them in dealing with these challenges, improving their overall situation.
Since 2021 HEY Smile Foundation has changed many lives across Humber and North Yorkshire working to help charities and volunteer groups succeed.
Anthony Hurd, Programme Manager (Green Social Prescribing) for HEY Smile Foundation, describes their programme: “Humber and North Yorkshire is a ‘test and learn’ site for the national ‘preventing and tackling mental ill health through green social prescribing’ project.
“Led by HEY Smile Foundation, in partnership with many different organisations across the region, the programme has been collecting evidence on how being connected to the outdoors and nature can deliver positive mental health outcomes for those that take part.
“One piece of work, supported by referral organisations such as social prescribers and analysed by the University of York, showed statistically significant improvements in depression and anxiety on those connected with outdoor activities such as walking and gardening.”
One of their current projects, Growing Green and Blue Health, encourages people in Humber and North Yorkshire to utilise time outdoors for better well-being.
Anthony Hurd explains: “One of our key aims of this is to help build the skills of those delivering activities in the outdoors and nature in making their offer more accessible.”
Social prescribing has been important in helping people, and it has had positive effects on some of HEY Smile’s participants.
The programme’s manager said one participant fed back: “Without my social prescriber I would have never known all these things were out there.”
Successes like this highlight the key roles this programme plays in supporting a person’s mental health.
He adds: “Our work and has seen big improvements not only in overall wellbeing but also depression and anxiety.”
As the discussion about mental health keeps changing, the HEY Smile Foundation is taking the lead with creative, new solutions.
