Last month our team of Link Workers and local partners celebrated National Social Prescribing Day at Inspire: Luton Sports Village.
The annual celebration for individuals, organisations and communities who make social prescribing possible, helps to raise awareness of the impact Social Prescribing is having on our community.
The programme itself is designed to improve service users’ health and wellbeing with non-medical support. Community-led activities such as gardening and youth clubs offer users another way to improve their emotional and physical wellbeing.
Social Prescribing Manager, Nazima Lami, commenced the celebrations by highlighting how the team had received 3,449 referrals over the past 12 months. She commented “Our Link Workers have been working closely with the community, CMHT (Community Mental Health Team), GPs and other health professionals in Luton to raise awareness and offer support for those where medical help is not necessarily the answer”.
A key aim of the programme is to reduce demand on primary and secondary health care, which Nazima and her team have demonstrated through a reported reduction in GP visits by 89%.
The team were also honored to hear directly from a service user. Once told he would never walk again following a serious head injury, Orlando walked to the front stage to tell his story of how community-led activity and fitness programmes helped him to regain the confidence and strength to take those first steps.
The key areas where the team’s clients require support are improving their physical health, with housing and finance, with social isolation and with emotional wellbeing.
Local Deputy Mayoress Zanib Raja commented “It was great seeing such a huge turnout to celebrate the success of such a powerful initiative. Without the help of the community, this support wouldn’t be available.”
The key learnings from the day were evident: health does not start within hospitals; health and wellbeing starts within our communities.