1Social Prescribing USA is the principle American hub for the growing movement calling for the use of the arts, volunteerism, nature, and local community organizations as medicine for patients of all ages.

Social prescribing considers social health as important to a patient’s health as physical and mental health, and is a key tool to address the loneliness epidemic and the social determinants of health. We believe the use of our own community resources as medicine is one of the next big ideas in health care in the U.S., as it is in 30+ other countries around the World.

Social Prescribing USA serves as a national voice for the field, supporting critically-needed research, connecting local organizations engaged with this work, identifying best practices,and building a national group of implementers, including physicians, to put into practice and promote social prescribing across the country in a range of medical settings.

What is Social Prescribing

In social prescribing practice, health professionals ‘prescribe’ their patients to connect with a trained worker who assesses the patients and asks, ‘What matters to you?’ Together, they make a plan, and the worker provides individualized connections to local services, community-based organizations, and local community groups. These referrals can also happen from the community itself.