Lambton College helping health teams with social prescribing research

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A joint research project in Lambton and Chatham-Kent is tapping front-line health-care providers to get people help with social issues before they end up in hospital.

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It’s called social prescribing, said Julie Harries, health system integration lead with the Sarnia-Lambton Ontario Health Team, which co-ordinates with different local providers.

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It includes referrals to food banks for people with financial needs, walking groups for socializing and exercising, and other places which offer community connection or supports to address social-determinants-of-health-related pitfalls, she said.

“We know that when people are socially isolated, it has a huge impact on them,” she said. “People become withdrawn and it really starts to impact their health.”

People impacted by social determinants of health often are older or lower income, she said.

Keeping people healthier and out of already overcrowded hospital emergency rooms is the aim, said Meghan Realesmith, manager of the Lambton College’s centre for community, health and social impact.

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The research centre received $400,000 in federal college and community social innovation funding in 2024 to work with the Sarnia-Lambton and Chatham-Kent Ontario health teams to figure out a way to make more social prescribing happen, she said.

The main method, so far, is more referrals by clinicians to 211 Ontario, Harries said.

“If you’re in an appointment with a physician, with a nurse practitioner, and, through conversation, some of those needs come up,” the provider can put in an e-referral, she said.

That goes to 211 – a free helpline connecting residents to social services and community supports – and 211 follows up directly with the individual, she said.

The quick, paperwork-light approach, through a referral platform called Ocean, also means the primary-care provider gets notified when the connection happens, she said.

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That’s “a huge piece, (bridging) that gap between the clinical and the social,” Harries said.

Paramedics and community health centres in both counties also are making referrals, she said.

Part of the research project, underway for another two years, is evaluating the effectiveness of the approach, Realesmith said.

A co-ordinator has been hired to help with implementation and finding efficiencies to make the process run as smoothly as possible, she said.

“Lots of times, it’s finding out what works and embedding that into your everyday practice, and then it’s something you can keep as a sustainable model,” Harries said.

Nursing and paramedicine students at Lambton College also could benefit, Realesmith said.

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Hopes are the guidelines and processes will be incorporated in curriculum, “so that when they do enter their communities, they’re aware of these resources,” she said.

Supports to which people are being referred must already exist in the communities, she said.

Regional Ontario health teams were created around 2020 in part to help increase collaboration with service providers, and make navigating convoluted health systems for people and practitioners easier.

“Just growing that awareness so that our providers know there are other services available,” Realesmith said about this project.

Early research indicates every dollar invested in social prescribing means a health system savings of $4.43, Harries said.

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“By being proactive and having people feel supported and get connected into the community,” that hopefully translates into fewer emergency and physician office visits, and better community health, she said.

As for why Lambton and Chatham-Kent are teaming up, it ties back to a pilot project about three years ago, with both OHTs looking at system navigation and community connections, said Nadine Neve, executive lead with the Sarnia-Lambton OHT.

That collaboration has continued, “and just Chatham is so close . . . and we have a lot of community support service providers that provide service in both areas, so it always makes sense to kind of collaborate on these things,” she said.

tkula@postmedia.com

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