Ways to Wellness Celebrates Link Worker Day 2023

#LinkWorkerDay23 is a time to celebrate Social Prescribing Link Workers and their impact, recognising those who have made contributions to health and wellbeing across communities through social prescribing.

Our link workers came together to reflect and share what support they felt they most needed to perform their roles and ensure better outcomes for their patients. This included clear referral pathways, strong leadership and teamworking, and access to community resources.

We also asked the link workers to share the personal skills and attributes they felt enabled successful social prescribing. Feedback included: strong communication; flexibility/adaptability; an ongoing commitment to personal development; and passion for the work.

Link workers were asked to consider our recent report to the Health and Social Care Committee in which we said, “social prescribing can only be effective where there is a thriving voluntary sector. Activities and services in the communities where people live are cost-effective, locally responsive, and easier for those in greatest need to access.” The response below was from staff member Rosie Mason.

The majority of link worker roles to date have been focused on primary care (GP practices). Ways to Wellness is keen to demonstrate the impact of link work in primary care through robust evaluation. We are also keen to test what link work can achieve in other settings including hospital care, for example through the SPACE Pilot (working with families at the Great North Children’s Hospital) and the Waiting Well PROSPeR project (supporting people on the waiting list for operations). To find out more about these projects visit the project page or contact us.

Meet our link work team here.