Fiona Coyle
CEO, Mental Health Reform
People often visit their GP for non-medical problems, including loneliness or financial difficulty. Due to GP shortages, addressing social needs can be challenging. Social prescribing may help address this gap.
Research from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) shows that 33% of men aged 50 and over reported feeling lonely often or some of the time. Social prescribing has the potential to support men experiencing loneliness, social isolation or mental health difficulties. This approach has been shown to improve overall health and wellbeing, enhance self-confidence and self-esteem and foster greater community involvement.
How social prescribing works
Social prescribing provides GPs and other health professionals a means of referring people to a range of non-clinical community supports through a social prescribing link worker. The link worker meets with the person referred for social prescribing to assess their needs and make a personal plan.
This plan might include joining social groups such as Men’s Sheds, local exercise groups, educational classes, peer support groups or recreational activities. The voluntary and community sector plays a key role in the delivery of many of these services.
The importance of timing
While social prescribing can benefit health and wellbeing, the timing of the referral is an important consideration. Social prescribing focuses on enabling a person to independently access local community groups and services, so the person needs to feel ready to do that.
They may need additional support from other mental health services, such as peer support workers or community mental health teams to engage effectively with social prescribing.
Social prescribing is still a
relatively new approach in Ireland.
National expansion
Social prescribing is still a relatively new approach in Ireland. In 2023, the HSE significantly expanded social prescribing, and the service is now available in every county. The ‘All Ireland Social Prescribing Network’ (AISPN) website has a members map, which shows a list of social prescribing services across the country with contact details.
People can directly contact these services to self-refer to social prescribing, or they can find more information from their GP. Mental Health Reform has also published a briefing paper providing further information on social prescribing and mental health.
Enhancing mental health outcomes
As social prescribing continues to grow in Ireland, it holds significant potential to enhance mental health outcomes and promote social inclusion, especially for men. This powerful tool helps individuals access a wide range of supports available through the voluntary and community sector, paving the way for improved health and community engagement.
For more information, visit mentalhealthreform.ie
