This month, we are introducing a new feature: profiles of organizations and individuals leading social prescribing efforts at the local level throughout the country. These profiles are drawn from Social Prescibing USA’s Community of Practice, a network of social prescribing leaders and practioners across the U.S.
This month we are spotlighting Keralty Compassionate Communities. We spoke with Camila Ronderos Bernal, Executive Director, and member of our Community of Practice, to learn more about her organization’s impactful social prescribing work in Florida, Tennessee and Colombia.
1. Can you briefly describe your social prescribing program and how it started?
Keralty Compassionate Communities is a non-profit that works around bridging the gap between healthcare and communities to achieve true care and wellbeing. On the health care front we work with different organizations to help them achieve this. Our initial work is with Sanitas Medical Centers in Florida where we have incorporated a loneliness assessment in their primary practice setting for people over 60 years old. Sanitas has hired community health workers that are constantly looking for resources in the community of all types. Group activities include physical activity, book clubs, painting groups, language lessons, walking groups, and SDOH needs, including food pantries, shelters, and transportation support. Once a patient is identified as lonely or having an SDOH need, they get socially prescribed either to the resource directly, the CHW who can supported them in getting connected to the resource in the community or to some activities that are run at the centers for those who are not yet comfortable going to outside resources. The program started in 2019 as part of the mandate from the parent company Keralty, who believes that providing true health care means addressing the true needs of patients, which includes assessing for loneliness and SDOH.
2. What types of prescriptions (e.g., arts, nature, volunteering) are most commonly referred through your program?
We classify our social prescriptions (SP) based on 6 jewels of health (nutrition, mind, movement, social relationships, environment and community). Around 25% of our SP go to movement which are resources that we have identified around physical activity – walking groups, parks and recreation activities held at parks or community spaces, and free activities provided by other organizations. In Florida, we find a lot of needs for transportation since we are fully dependent on cars for transportation. Therefore, we connect with services we have identified which can help them both getting to their medical appointments and in certain cases to attend the activities we refer them to. We also have many referrals around nutrition, since having access to healthy foods can be expensive. We have connected to food pantries and other similar programs that can support patients to have access to healthier foods.
3. How is your program funded?
The work is funded directly by Sanitas Medical Centers in Florida as a way of providing better care for their patients and ensuring they have greater wellbeing beyond basic access to healthcare. The program is part of what we believe a healthcare company should do to provide true care.
4. How has social prescribing impacted the health and well-being of the people you serve? What outcome measures do you use to measure that impact?
We have process measurements and outcome measurements. In the process measurements, we look at:
- # of CHW we have to cover the population
- # of assessments done
- % of people who are lonely or with SDOH needs
- % of those that get a social prescription (our goal is to get to at least 70% of those in need)
For the impact evaluation we look at:
- Differences in cost for those patients who are lonely vs. those who are not. We find that those who are lonely cost between 15 to 20% more.
- Changes in Lubben scales after receiving the social prescription, which improves for approximately 60% of the patients.
- Impact on health outcomes measured in costs and overall health indicators, including controlled blood pressure or improved anemia, which has also improved in patients.
5. What advice would you give to others looking to start or expand social prescribing programs?
Social prescribing should be seen as the ability to connect people with different needs to other resources that are sustainable in the long run, that connect them to others with similar interests, and support them. Funding is a major issue when trying to implement strategies that can receive the referral and they should try to connect to how it impacts cost reductions in other areas so that more investment is done. If you are involved in healthcare services, think about how to assess patients in a wider way, have strategies that allow you to connect to resources and activities in the local communities, and how you can support them since they will benefit your patients and impact your costs.