In November 2025, The Toronto Star ran an opinion piece called, “How the arts can help cure the loneliness epidemic. It’s called a social prescription and it’s catching on.”

Social prescribing is a relatively new philosophy and practice in health care. It involves health practitioners writing prescriptions for their patients to participate in social or physical activities, just like a prescription for traditional medicine.

Instead of asking, “what’s the matter with you?”, health care professionals ask, “what matters to you?” to prescribe activities that help patients build strong community connections improving their overall health.

The United Kingdom has been at the leading edge of social prescribing. In 2023, doctors in the UK wrote more than one million social prescriptions for patients to participate in social, cultural and nature activities. These patients saw their doctors 40% less than the regular population saving the health care system $2,400 per person.

Social prescribing is starting to take off in Canada too. A University of Toronto researcher started the Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing (CISP) in 2022 in response to the after effects of COVID-19. A national organization anchored by the Canadian Red Cross, it connects people and practices, shares knowledge and gathers data to influence policies to strengthen health and community care. There’s even a Social Prescribing Day in Canada (March 19) and week, filled with lectures and events.

I have to confess when I first read about social prescribing, I was a bit put out. Have we really come to a point where we need to rely on health care professionals to tell us to get out of the house and get active or be social? There is enough strain on the health care system already. I’m pretty sure my doctor has better things to do than discuss whether signing up for a watercolours class, drum circle or swimming lessons would improve my mental or physical health.

Some of these programs however can be expensive, even cost prohibitive for individuals. One solution is for insurance companies to offer a certain amount of coverage each year ($200-$400) as part of their benefits program for employees to participate in these types of programs, similar to the amounts allocated for physio, massage and chiropractic services.

Another solution is for employers as part of their health and wellness offerings to subsidize these programs. It’s not as crazy as you think. Good employers now offer a wide array of perks or provide financial support for programs and services that contribute to their employees’ wellbeing, such as gym memberships, fitness equipment, and educational courses.

As someone who writes, I was interested to find out that one of the organizations CISP has partnered with is the Writers Collective of Canada, which runs between 20-30 free workshops a week in major cities across Canada.

I can attest to the great value, friendship and social connection I’ve discovered through the writer’s and badminton groups I belong to through the Kingston Seniors Association.

And it’s not just seniors who can benefit from social prescribing. According to CISP, social prescribing can result in 3,900 fewer cases of adolescent depression and 3,500 years of additional schooling completed by Canadian youth aged 15-17 experiencing signs of depression.

This week’s #HappyAct is to sign up for a new activity and write your own prescription for happiness–give your doctor the day off.