around about a third of people go to see
their doctors and they actually when
they go to see their doctors it’s not
actually for a clinical issue it’s
actually for an underlying social issue
like debt unemployment or social
isolation there’s a growing movement at
the moment that’s looking to mainstream
social prescribing that’s gonna tackle
this head-on and I’m here today to share
with you why it’s so important I’m gonna
start off with one of my favorite
childhood stories the magic stone Stone
Soup story some people might know it as
and this is a story of where there’s a
man and he’s looking for shelter and
food and he’s in the woods and he calls
to the door of an elderly woman and she
says nose I don’t have anything can’t
help you out on your way and he says oh
that’s a pity that’s Purdy because I
make the most fantastic Stone Soup tell
me about it more about that and she went
and got a pot and she got some water and
he put the stone into the water and it
was bubbling away and she he tasted it
and she said well and he says just needs
a little bit of carrot and she said I
think I might have a bit of carrot
actually so she went and got some
carrots and brought it and he tasted it
again and she says well and he said just
needs a bit of onion I’ve got a bit of
onion too so she went and got their
onion so you guessed that she’s
backwards and forwards she’s bringing
everything out of the cupboards for
someone that had nothing there was
everything there and it’s a great story
because at the end you see them enjoying
this great big bowl of healthy hearty
soup and she even lets him stay over she
sleeps on the chair he sleeps on her in
her bed and the next day as he’s leaving
it’s a great image I’ll never forget it
and it’s he’s leaving and he’s all proud
of himself and he’s left her with the
stone and she’s got the stone on her
hand
and she kind of looks down and she says
all right I was had and she literally
the last page is her throw on the stone
and that’s just inches away from his
head but it’s a great story it’s a story
about on tap and resources it’s a story
about time bank and really when you
think about it you know
had the ingredients he was able to cook
the meeting and it’s a story about
building your social networks and it
really makes me think of my time when I
was working in the in the community and
voluntary sector and I had to run a
digital skills program and my target was
500 people get them online okay right
what have I got here what is it what are
you giving me here is there any market
and budget oh no sighs there’s nothing
so I thought right okay let’s how am I
gonna do this so first of all I spoke to
principals and schools
I spoke to community leaders I find
spaces I find rooms then I got 20
laptops from the local regional college
and I got the 20 chitters as well to
help me so I started you know the
resources were building up and then I
had to look at how to get the people so
again new market and budget but I had my
computer and I was making little posters
and I was putting these posters up in
the chip shops and health centers and
job centers wherever I could find a
board where I thought people would be I
would put these plate and they would put
these up here and what I was doing was I
ended up getting some child minders
involved as well because a lot of people
would have want to go into these courses
but would have had kids so building up
everything together and then it was just
a matter of the end of putting the ads
out there and seeing who was interested
I put ads in the parish bulletin too so
Sunday’s the phone was off the hook
everyone was ringing I couldn’t believe
it it was really it was getting to
people and people were like I’ve seen I
want to learn how do you escape and my
pet my partners just died a you know I
need to connect Dunmore and then I had
people who were like look and I’m
wanting to find work I need to learn how
to use word in Excel so it’s like
brilliant the reason it was so
successful it was on their doorsteps
Everson familiar surroundings they
didn’t have to go in their big shiny
building to do it there wasn’t places
that were close to them and at times
that was relevant to them and suited
them and it was fantastic it went really
really well to the point that people
were like what’s the next course you
know you could just see the whole when
you walked into the room and you could
see people there and they were making
friends and if someone though if someone
wasn’t there for a couple of weeks I
used to get the register sent to me so I
would give them a little ring and say
everything okay and you know might be
someone who said oh look I didn’t think
I could go back because I haven’t been
there in a way that I made him miss
something and I would say no no they’ve
all been asking for you they’ve actually
said it’s your turn to buy the bonds
next week so you have to come back in
for the class but it was great
but what I noticed was wife’s that was
fantastic there were still people who
weren’t there that needed to be there
and I would see maybe a young mother
walking past with her pram and her kids
and I was thinking how do we get her and
how do we get her to experience this and
that’s where the challenges started and
I even the fact that we’d worked so well
together to to get the message out there
to so many people there were still
people that were left behind and I
thought right that’s something I want I
want to do something about that so fast
forward a few years and I’m working on
the community sector again and I meet
this girl called Leanne Munk
Leanne monk is a community development
worker and Kragen and she’s being rollin
fantastic programs for people and Kragen
and people with COPD with oxygen tanks
are doing exercise in her Center it
started out like a little porter cabin
and she built this massive big center
for long-term conditions applying for
funds and applications and just again
looking for resources that are out there
and building something for people and
their own community and her and I were
in the same meeting and I had a diagram
that I was using and I was using the
diagram and someone said that’s a great
diagram and I said I love the hey groans
and she said I love diagrams too and
that was the moment it was like wow we
love diagrams and I got chatting to her
and she had the same frustrations as I
had she was saying you know how can we
better connect this up because we need
to connect the doctors the social
workers the community providers and we
need to connect them around people
because the people they don’t know all
the things that are happening and they
want to do something about their health
and there’s other people who don’t want
to do something about their health but
how do we bring them along so we came up
with an idea and this was a great idea
that we thought like let’s it’s like
match.com for health improvement
and it’s got to connect everything up so
we’re going to have the person and we’re
going to have the activity and we’re
just going to connect it up together so
we thought let’s pitch this idea so we
went along to competition and we stood
up when we got our t-shirts printed and
we got a video made and this was the
moment we were going to share this idea
with everyone and everyone was going to
think this was amazing and we stood up
on the stage the video didn’t work and
the first question that the judges asked
us was what is it exactly that you’re
doing so we were absolutely got it we
were like ah we didn’t get the message
across properly and my mom said hey I
thought you were great obviously we
didn’t won so the judges have chosen
this other guy and he won but unbeknown
to us he totally got what we were doing
and he called us up and he said look I
believe so much in what you’re doing and
that I want to give you the prize and it
was 500 pounds and it was three months
incubation space to test our idea and
develop it so all of a sudden it wasn’t
just our mom’s that thought it was a
great idea and us someone else did to
you and someone believed in us so Dan we
decided it rate let’s do something with
this so we looked at the social
prescribing model of care someone that
said actually guys what you’re doing
it’s called social prescribing it’s been
around for years it’s actually the
community development approach to health
and well-being and we thought we’ve
actually been doing this this is you
know this is our thing
but when we looked at it further we
noticed that it was mainly paper-based
it was relying on our GP to pick up the
phone and phone a place and say oh I’ve
got someone here that’s really
interested in joining the class and
there was just so many times throughout
that process that that person might not
end up in that activity in that program
that they so much wanted to do so we
thought it’s 2013 it was a year of City
of Culture there’s a really digital
revolution happening in our city at the
time and we thought let’s see if we can
bring digital under this digital has a
role to play in it it can’t be the
dominant force but it has a rule to make
this whole process a lot smoother so
that that person can actually
take action and they could do something
about their health and well-being
no big point being that we weren’t
techies at all so we were like I thought
Java was a coffee for goodness sake it
was how are we going to do this so we
managed and again it was looking at the
resources around you and we find the
most amazing software developer and we
shared with him our journeys our user
journeys that we want to do this and
then it needs to go like that so then he
helped us develop this platform and what
was happening was that when a person
went in to see their GP the doctor then
could say to them look I think a
referral instead of medication I think
you need a referral to be able to get
out there in the community more and the
person would say yes I would like that
and our software would be able to make
that whole process seamless so that then
they could go and spend time with the
community development worker and sit
down and look at the range of things
that were happening everything from
swimming classes there was dancin there
was learnt escape it was all happening
gardening classes everything and that
time that person could see where their
health risk was at the moment and they
could make their choices and they would
be supported like I did with the phone
call after the two weeks if someone
wasn’t attendant they would be supported
every month they could see their health
risk reducing and what an amazing
opportunity that would be for someone to
actually see the impact that it was
having on their life we’re connecting
people up with physical activity diet
nutrition mental health support and it’s
now it’s been recognised that it’s not
just that that’s important as well
there’s data advice there’s housing
support there’s housing associations
that are getting their housing officers
to sit with people who maybe need some
more support than what they’re getting
at the moment and connect them up into
their communities as well five years on
social prescribing is everywhere there’s
not a week when you don’t see it in the
press and newspapers and it talks about
the impact that gardening has an art
classes have on people’s mental health
and well-being so there’s so many great
things that are happening national
policy has caught up as well which is
great it’s been written into programs
and plans the NHS is now making money
available for social prescribing – to be
able to support the voluntary community
and social
price sector so there’s a really
possible sapna at the moment pilot
programs are getting extended you’ve got
dr. Mohan and White Way Medical Center
in Merton and you’ve got Rey and Clara
the to social prescribers and their
program has been extended so that they
can help more people and be able to say
host them into their communities this is
a great example in Glasgow of over 60
year-olds are able to go to daytime
discos and they’re going to go to
climbing walls as well and it’s thanks
to a pasta and the weekend wow factor
and they’re doing fantastic work you’ve
also got the fantastic guys in Alvin a
GP practice and Stockport they have
vegetable on prescription they also have
the walk with your local health champion
so they go out walk in a GP practice
with all their patients together and
they have a sing-along group that meets
in the cafe as well and it’s become so
popular that it’s standing room only
you’ve also got the likes of the guys
down in the box a grounder well health
centre they are doing they’ve got their
Men’s Shed and they are building
furniture and they are able to get that
used in the local community as well and
they’re playing cards to some things and
then you’ve got the likes of the TBC and
they are fantastic they are the
conservation volunteers they are ahkna
boyd and getting people with a purpose
and their outdoors and they’re getting
their hands dirty and planting trees and
renovating areas and it’s been proven to
be having a great impact on anxiety and
stress and then in Houghton when you
mums get it there’s a thing called a
baby box and it’s from Finland so when
new moms get their baby box they’re been
saying poster to breastfeeding support
parent and support and financial support
as well so the midwife’s are making the
social prescriptions for them so what
about Leanne a nice journey and this
this is five years on our only that’s
not us by the way but it’s that’s what
that’s what we want to be like actually
our own our own mental and physical
health that has taken its toll I will be
honest it’s all good coming up with the
idea but when you try to execute it and
develop and take it
where you know you just have to forget
about your own kind of mental health and
well-being but the good news is last
week we joined the gym and there’s yoga
classes that are in the community center
that we’re going to start going to next
week so we’re back on it again and we’re
like yeah we really need to be healthy
and happy ourselves so yes and there’s
also there’s a mini triathlon that’s
happening too so my mom and my aunt’s
world we’re all going to join that as
well so Leon and I have built our
headquarters in Derry and we have ten
people working for us with another four
people that are coming on over the
summer time 35,000 rowing 35,000 people
this year will receive Social
prescription referrals via our digital
platform elemental we were in Dubai and
we helped by health authorities set up
their happiness prescribing program and
that’s where they prescribed happiness
and their and health and they’re
tackling type 2 diabetes over there they
were Health Minister and a health agenda
it’s it’s fantastic and yeah so it’s
going really well I’ve just recently we
won a tempter to help the Mayor of
London to develop his social prescribing
strategy as well so yeah it’s you know
it’s it’s going well but we just need to
just keep getting the message out there
and I’ve got an ask of you today and the
first thing is its word health day today
so I want to say to all of you if
there’s something that you’ve been
thinking about doing if you’ve seen
something on a notice board and thought
I’d love to do that or if you have seen
people out walking and thought I wish I
could do that do it make today the day
that you decide right I’m going to do
the second thing I want you to do is to
talk to your GPS about social
prescribing I want the conversation to
keep going just keep it out there talk
to GPS talk to your social workers
housing officers and just let’s try and
main screen it mainstream social
prescribing and then the third thing as
I think collectively to see what we can
do to help support the voluntary
community and social enterprise sector
because they really are going to be
critical and social prescribing and we
need to help them so our vision to
finish off is that it will be equally
likely for you to be prescribed an art
class or garden as it would be a pill and wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing
their doctors and they actually when
they go to see their doctors it’s not
actually for a clinical issue it’s
actually for an underlying social issue
like debt unemployment or social
isolation there’s a growing movement at
the moment that’s looking to mainstream
social prescribing that’s gonna tackle
this head-on and I’m here today to share
with you why it’s so important I’m gonna
start off with one of my favorite
childhood stories the magic stone Stone
Soup story some people might know it as
and this is a story of where there’s a
man and he’s looking for shelter and
food and he’s in the woods and he calls
to the door of an elderly woman and she
says nose I don’t have anything can’t
help you out on your way and he says oh
that’s a pity that’s Purdy because I
make the most fantastic Stone Soup tell
me about it more about that and she went
and got a pot and she got some water and
he put the stone into the water and it
was bubbling away and she he tasted it
and she said well and he says just needs
a little bit of carrot and she said I
think I might have a bit of carrot
actually so she went and got some
carrots and brought it and he tasted it
again and she says well and he said just
needs a bit of onion I’ve got a bit of
onion too so she went and got their
onion so you guessed that she’s
backwards and forwards she’s bringing
everything out of the cupboards for
someone that had nothing there was
everything there and it’s a great story
because at the end you see them enjoying
this great big bowl of healthy hearty
soup and she even lets him stay over she
sleeps on the chair he sleeps on her in
her bed and the next day as he’s leaving
it’s a great image I’ll never forget it
and it’s he’s leaving and he’s all proud
of himself and he’s left her with the
stone and she’s got the stone on her
hand
and she kind of looks down and she says
all right I was had and she literally
the last page is her throw on the stone
and that’s just inches away from his
head but it’s a great story it’s a story
about on tap and resources it’s a story
about time bank and really when you
think about it you know
had the ingredients he was able to cook
the meeting and it’s a story about
building your social networks and it
really makes me think of my time when I
was working in the in the community and
voluntary sector and I had to run a
digital skills program and my target was
500 people get them online okay right
what have I got here what is it what are
you giving me here is there any market
and budget oh no sighs there’s nothing
so I thought right okay let’s how am I
gonna do this so first of all I spoke to
principals and schools
I spoke to community leaders I find
spaces I find rooms then I got 20
laptops from the local regional college
and I got the 20 chitters as well to
help me so I started you know the
resources were building up and then I
had to look at how to get the people so
again new market and budget but I had my
computer and I was making little posters
and I was putting these posters up in
the chip shops and health centers and
job centers wherever I could find a
board where I thought people would be I
would put these plate and they would put
these up here and what I was doing was I
ended up getting some child minders
involved as well because a lot of people
would have want to go into these courses
but would have had kids so building up
everything together and then it was just
a matter of the end of putting the ads
out there and seeing who was interested
I put ads in the parish bulletin too so
Sunday’s the phone was off the hook
everyone was ringing I couldn’t believe
it it was really it was getting to
people and people were like I’ve seen I
want to learn how do you escape and my
pet my partners just died a you know I
need to connect Dunmore and then I had
people who were like look and I’m
wanting to find work I need to learn how
to use word in Excel so it’s like
brilliant the reason it was so
successful it was on their doorsteps
Everson familiar surroundings they
didn’t have to go in their big shiny
building to do it there wasn’t places
that were close to them and at times
that was relevant to them and suited
them and it was fantastic it went really
really well to the point that people
were like what’s the next course you
know you could just see the whole when
you walked into the room and you could
see people there and they were making
friends and if someone though if someone
wasn’t there for a couple of weeks I
used to get the register sent to me so I
would give them a little ring and say
everything okay and you know might be
someone who said oh look I didn’t think
I could go back because I haven’t been
there in a way that I made him miss
something and I would say no no they’ve
all been asking for you they’ve actually
said it’s your turn to buy the bonds
next week so you have to come back in
for the class but it was great
but what I noticed was wife’s that was
fantastic there were still people who
weren’t there that needed to be there
and I would see maybe a young mother
walking past with her pram and her kids
and I was thinking how do we get her and
how do we get her to experience this and
that’s where the challenges started and
I even the fact that we’d worked so well
together to to get the message out there
to so many people there were still
people that were left behind and I
thought right that’s something I want I
want to do something about that so fast
forward a few years and I’m working on
the community sector again and I meet
this girl called Leanne Munk
Leanne monk is a community development
worker and Kragen and she’s being rollin
fantastic programs for people and Kragen
and people with COPD with oxygen tanks
are doing exercise in her Center it
started out like a little porter cabin
and she built this massive big center
for long-term conditions applying for
funds and applications and just again
looking for resources that are out there
and building something for people and
their own community and her and I were
in the same meeting and I had a diagram
that I was using and I was using the
diagram and someone said that’s a great
diagram and I said I love the hey groans
and she said I love diagrams too and
that was the moment it was like wow we
love diagrams and I got chatting to her
and she had the same frustrations as I
had she was saying you know how can we
better connect this up because we need
to connect the doctors the social
workers the community providers and we
need to connect them around people
because the people they don’t know all
the things that are happening and they
want to do something about their health
and there’s other people who don’t want
to do something about their health but
how do we bring them along so we came up
with an idea and this was a great idea
that we thought like let’s it’s like
match.com for health improvement
and it’s got to connect everything up so
we’re going to have the person and we’re
going to have the activity and we’re
just going to connect it up together so
we thought let’s pitch this idea so we
went along to competition and we stood
up when we got our t-shirts printed and
we got a video made and this was the
moment we were going to share this idea
with everyone and everyone was going to
think this was amazing and we stood up
on the stage the video didn’t work and
the first question that the judges asked
us was what is it exactly that you’re
doing so we were absolutely got it we
were like ah we didn’t get the message
across properly and my mom said hey I
thought you were great obviously we
didn’t won so the judges have chosen
this other guy and he won but unbeknown
to us he totally got what we were doing
and he called us up and he said look I
believe so much in what you’re doing and
that I want to give you the prize and it
was 500 pounds and it was three months
incubation space to test our idea and
develop it so all of a sudden it wasn’t
just our mom’s that thought it was a
great idea and us someone else did to
you and someone believed in us so Dan we
decided it rate let’s do something with
this so we looked at the social
prescribing model of care someone that
said actually guys what you’re doing
it’s called social prescribing it’s been
around for years it’s actually the
community development approach to health
and well-being and we thought we’ve
actually been doing this this is you
know this is our thing
but when we looked at it further we
noticed that it was mainly paper-based
it was relying on our GP to pick up the
phone and phone a place and say oh I’ve
got someone here that’s really
interested in joining the class and
there was just so many times throughout
that process that that person might not
end up in that activity in that program
that they so much wanted to do so we
thought it’s 2013 it was a year of City
of Culture there’s a really digital
revolution happening in our city at the
time and we thought let’s see if we can
bring digital under this digital has a
role to play in it it can’t be the
dominant force but it has a rule to make
this whole process a lot smoother so
that that person can actually
take action and they could do something
about their health and well-being
no big point being that we weren’t
techies at all so we were like I thought
Java was a coffee for goodness sake it
was how are we going to do this so we
managed and again it was looking at the
resources around you and we find the
most amazing software developer and we
shared with him our journeys our user
journeys that we want to do this and
then it needs to go like that so then he
helped us develop this platform and what
was happening was that when a person
went in to see their GP the doctor then
could say to them look I think a
referral instead of medication I think
you need a referral to be able to get
out there in the community more and the
person would say yes I would like that
and our software would be able to make
that whole process seamless so that then
they could go and spend time with the
community development worker and sit
down and look at the range of things
that were happening everything from
swimming classes there was dancin there
was learnt escape it was all happening
gardening classes everything and that
time that person could see where their
health risk was at the moment and they
could make their choices and they would
be supported like I did with the phone
call after the two weeks if someone
wasn’t attendant they would be supported
every month they could see their health
risk reducing and what an amazing
opportunity that would be for someone to
actually see the impact that it was
having on their life we’re connecting
people up with physical activity diet
nutrition mental health support and it’s
now it’s been recognised that it’s not
just that that’s important as well
there’s data advice there’s housing
support there’s housing associations
that are getting their housing officers
to sit with people who maybe need some
more support than what they’re getting
at the moment and connect them up into
their communities as well five years on
social prescribing is everywhere there’s
not a week when you don’t see it in the
press and newspapers and it talks about
the impact that gardening has an art
classes have on people’s mental health
and well-being so there’s so many great
things that are happening national
policy has caught up as well which is
great it’s been written into programs
and plans the NHS is now making money
available for social prescribing – to be
able to support the voluntary community
and social
price sector so there’s a really
possible sapna at the moment pilot
programs are getting extended you’ve got
dr. Mohan and White Way Medical Center
in Merton and you’ve got Rey and Clara
the to social prescribers and their
program has been extended so that they
can help more people and be able to say
host them into their communities this is
a great example in Glasgow of over 60
year-olds are able to go to daytime
discos and they’re going to go to
climbing walls as well and it’s thanks
to a pasta and the weekend wow factor
and they’re doing fantastic work you’ve
also got the fantastic guys in Alvin a
GP practice and Stockport they have
vegetable on prescription they also have
the walk with your local health champion
so they go out walk in a GP practice
with all their patients together and
they have a sing-along group that meets
in the cafe as well and it’s become so
popular that it’s standing room only
you’ve also got the likes of the guys
down in the box a grounder well health
centre they are doing they’ve got their
Men’s Shed and they are building
furniture and they are able to get that
used in the local community as well and
they’re playing cards to some things and
then you’ve got the likes of the TBC and
they are fantastic they are the
conservation volunteers they are ahkna
boyd and getting people with a purpose
and their outdoors and they’re getting
their hands dirty and planting trees and
renovating areas and it’s been proven to
be having a great impact on anxiety and
stress and then in Houghton when you
mums get it there’s a thing called a
baby box and it’s from Finland so when
new moms get their baby box they’re been
saying poster to breastfeeding support
parent and support and financial support
as well so the midwife’s are making the
social prescriptions for them so what
about Leanne a nice journey and this
this is five years on our only that’s
not us by the way but it’s that’s what
that’s what we want to be like actually
our own our own mental and physical
health that has taken its toll I will be
honest it’s all good coming up with the
idea but when you try to execute it and
develop and take it
where you know you just have to forget
about your own kind of mental health and
well-being but the good news is last
week we joined the gym and there’s yoga
classes that are in the community center
that we’re going to start going to next
week so we’re back on it again and we’re
like yeah we really need to be healthy
and happy ourselves so yes and there’s
also there’s a mini triathlon that’s
happening too so my mom and my aunt’s
world we’re all going to join that as
well so Leon and I have built our
headquarters in Derry and we have ten
people working for us with another four
people that are coming on over the
summer time 35,000 rowing 35,000 people
this year will receive Social
prescription referrals via our digital
platform elemental we were in Dubai and
we helped by health authorities set up
their happiness prescribing program and
that’s where they prescribed happiness
and their and health and they’re
tackling type 2 diabetes over there they
were Health Minister and a health agenda
it’s it’s fantastic and yeah so it’s
going really well I’ve just recently we
won a tempter to help the Mayor of
London to develop his social prescribing
strategy as well so yeah it’s you know
it’s it’s going well but we just need to
just keep getting the message out there
and I’ve got an ask of you today and the
first thing is its word health day today
so I want to say to all of you if
there’s something that you’ve been
thinking about doing if you’ve seen
something on a notice board and thought
I’d love to do that or if you have seen
people out walking and thought I wish I
could do that do it make today the day
that you decide right I’m going to do
the second thing I want you to do is to
talk to your GPS about social
prescribing I want the conversation to
keep going just keep it out there talk
to GPS talk to your social workers
housing officers and just let’s try and
main screen it mainstream social
prescribing and then the third thing as
I think collectively to see what we can
do to help support the voluntary
community and social enterprise sector
because they really are going to be
critical and social prescribing and we
need to help them so our vision to
finish off is that it will be equally
likely for you to be prescribed an art
class or garden as it would be a pill and wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing
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