What is social prescribing?Up to 80% of our health is socially determined by factors in our environment.
To be healthy, we need basic resources—food, cash, a safe home, a stable job. But we also need sources of joy, meaning, and relationships: someone to call at 3 a.m. in a crisis, a reason to wake up in the morning, and outlets to cope with the sadness, anger, fear, and loneliness that come with being human.
Social prescriptions aim to address these social determinants of health .
With inspiration from Indigenous wisdom, positive psychology, holistic healing, lifestyle and integrative medicine, palliative care, and all kinds of therapies, social prescribing is a rapidly spreading practice through which health workers “prescribe” community resources and activities—like art classes and sea swimming lessons—the same way they prescribe pills and therapies. It’s been operationally defined as a way for clinical and community professionals to connect people to “non-medical supports and services … to improve their health and strengthen their connections.”
Instead of asking, “What’s the matter with you?” social prescribing asks, “What matters to you?”
This website aims to crowdsource the research, resources, and real-person testimonies that show how social prescribing improves our health, our health care, and our own well-being
OUR BOOK
The first book to explore the science, stories & spread of social prescribing
“In this combination of diligent science reporting, moving patient success stories, and surprising self-discovery, journalist Julia Hotz helps us discover lasting and life-changing medicine in our own communities.”
Praised as “provocative,” “hopeful,” and “filled with humor, integrity, and great storytelling… sure to change lives and the world”, this book shows the revolutionary potential of social prescribing through before-and-after transformations of people: the aspiring novelist whose art workshop helps her cope with trauma symptoms and rediscover her joy, the passionate researcher whose swimming course helps her taper off antidepressants and feel excited to wake up in the morning, and the army vet whose phone conversations help him form a true friendship.
THE CONNECTION CURE brings a long-known theory to life: if we can change our environment, we can change our health. By reconnecting to what matters to us, we can all start to feel better.
