Using social prescribing as 'a script against loneliness'

Loneliness is recognised as a public health priority for many countries internationally. According to the 2025 World Health Organization (WHO) report ‘From loneliness to social connection: charting a path to healthier societies’, as many as one in six people experience loneliness — a “discrepancy between one’s desired and actual experience of social connection” that can be a temporary response or chronic and intractable. Demonstrating the cause for concern, the WHO estimates that loneliness led to 871,000 worldwide deaths annually from 2014 to 2019, with the risk of all-cause mortality in older adults possibly also being increased 9–22% by loneliness, with deeper social isolation increasing risk by 32–33%.

“Social disconnection can also lead to heart disease, stroke, depression, and anxiety,” the Royal Australian College of GPs’ (RACGP) President Dr Michael Wright explained, pointing to one study that found that lacking social connection is as dangerous as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. Due to what Wright says are the clear health effects of loneliness and the significance of social connection to our health, RACGP has been supporting social prescribing — connecting patients to non-medical activities to support health — as a health intervention that helps patients connect more and improve their overall health.

In March, RACGP called for greater use of social prescribing in Australia, particularly in rural and remote areas, its feasibility and barriers to adoption that were discussed in a July article published in Australian Journal of General Practice. Regarding the approach to take, RACGP Specific Interests Social Prescribing Chair Dr Kuljit Singh said it needs support, but can reinforce GPs’ role as specialists in preventive and whole-of-person care. “As GPs, we and our patients discuss lifestyle options and behavioural changes that support health,” Singh said, noting that social prescribing can strengthen and complement GP care in a way that gives patients power and autonomy.

“Social prescribing can be a health approach to addressing the social disconnection we’ve seen since the pandemic — a script against loneliness,” Singh said. “At the moment, there are barriers to more formal adoption of social prescribing. Most general practices don’t have access to a link worker who can match patients to activities that meet their social needs. GPs aren’t funded to provide non-medical care or get to know local community services,” Singh said. “But support is growing. The WHO published a toolkit to support implementation of social prescribing in 2022 and this year the Victorian Government has been trialling a social prescribing program, Local Connections, across six regions.

“And we can implement social prescribing as an add-on to what we’re already doing, ahead of the creation of systems to support social prescribing,” Singh continued. “If you know about a group in your community that has a hobby a patient might enjoy, it’s an opportunity to enhance the care you provide. If practice team members have an interest, it can be an opportunity to connect with the community, like we’ve seen with practice parkruns.” Singh concluded: “There are opportunities to build networks that support social prescribing. And the nature of social prescribing — making healthy connections around your interests — makes it an approach with real advantages that we all benefit from growing.”

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The WHO’s 2025 report ‘From loneliness to social connection: charting a path to healthier societies’ is available at www.who.int/groups/commission-on-social-connection/report and its 2022 ‘A toolkit on how to implement social prescribing’ is available at www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789290619765.

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