SUNDRE – Following preliminary assessments and public engagement sessions intended to explore a local social prescribing model, Sundre is in a position to take the next steps toward introducing a Link worker.
About a dozen people attended a town hall at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #223 in Sundre last month that was organized by a local society called Seniors Protected and Respected Under Community Engagement (S.P.R.U.C.E).
Among the attendees were mayor Richard Warnock as well as members of the Greenwood Neighbourhood Place Society and the Sundre Health Professional Attraction and Retention Committee who came to learn more about how social prescribing, which bridges gaps between medical and social care services, could be delivered under the guidance of Healthy Aging Alberta with support from Alberta Health Services.
“Social prescribing would be a huge benefit to your community,” said Apryl Webb, central Alberta regional developer for Healthy Aging, who previously developed a fond connection with Sundre during a prior position working in long-term care doing rec therapy programs.
“Through social prescribing, health-care professionals can refer patients to community-based programs to improve their health and enhance their quality of life.”
Link workers serve as a connection between health services and the community while helping older adults to navigate the system, she said.
“Healthy Aging Alberta is funding 10 communities” in the province, she said.
“These communities are currently funded through Waltons Trust, with the goal of demonstrating success so that this work will be funded publicly in the future rather than through philanthropy.”
Evaluations from existing programs have yielded outcomes such as reduced hospital visits and decreased dependency on the formal health-care system by improving health outcomes through a more preventative approach that helps seniors improve their overall mental as well as physical well-being and giving them more agency, she said.
“In Canada, social prescribing provides a return of $4.43 for every dollar spent,” she said, going onto add that represents annual savings of approximately $268 million.
Before introducing social prescribing, communities are provided an implementation toolkit that includes a readiness scale and assessment, she said.
“According to this readiness scale, Sundre is ready for action,” she said. “We want to find out what Sundre as a community would like to see from a social prescribing model.”
Stephanie Catudal, a community health facilitator with AHS, said her role involves engagement as well as creating connections in an ongoing effort to better understand a community’s needs with the objective of strengthening existing partnerships and establishing new ones.
“Sundre has a lot of great things going on,” said Catudal, adding many local groups already offer a variety of services.
“But that’s something I can help with as well,” she said, adding she can also tap into AHS data to share relevant information.
“Our role is constantly changing right now, but this is currently how I support communities. It could change tomorrow, let’s hope it doesn’t,” she said.
Recognizing the all-encompassing nature of that role, Joyce Wicks, chair of the retention committee, asked Catudal under which of the four new health-care pillars she anticipates being positioned.
“We’re not sure, and that’s the problem. Because we are a part of all four pillars,” said Catudal. “We might be right under the ministry, we’re honestly not sure. We haven’t heard anything definite yet.”
Rebecca Aspden, Healthy Aging Alberta community development team lead, said developing a local social prescribing model that caters to the community’s needs also involves identifying the main health and well-being issues that Sundre faces.
Another aspect is drawing from the strengths of older adults, who are knowledge holders that also have a lot of gifts to give back, said Aspden.
“We aren’t just supporting older adults, they are supporting the community,” she said.
Among the issues raised during the ensuing brainstorming session were social isolation that by extension impacts mental health, the struggle that more introverted individuals have making new connections, recognizing that aging in place will not always work for everyone, as well as how to reach seniors who are not active social media users.
Some resources and avenues that were identified not only as valuable services but also potentially able to help raise awareness were GNP, the Sundre Community Van, and the Sundre Thrift Shop.
Responding to follow-up questions, S.P.R.U.C.E. co-chair Jane Atkins said, “Our next steps will start with possible funding. We want a program that is sustainable, and not a one time and done.”
That funding, she explained, would be to cover the Link worker, a position that Healthy Aging Alberta provides training for.
“We need to establish a budget through the template provided by Healthy Aging Alberta so we know what costs need to be met, then start writing grant proposals or finding other funding initiatives,” she said.
“We would love to make the process seamless but we know it can be complicated as there is only so much money available no matter the cause.”
