A randomized, controlled trial found that patients assigned to a comprehensive navigation service, which helps patients understand the complexities of the medical system, had a significantly higher rate of self-reported access to needed resources three months after enrollment compared with control involving traditional signposting (50.3% vs 35.8%). The study compared two levels of social prescribing among 326 randomized patients in Ontario, Canada, and their impact on access to needed health and social resources and equity for Ontario's Francophone minority population. The intervention arm consisted of a navigation service called the Access to Resources in the Community (ARC) model. The ARC model offered patients in-person appointments with a navigator who worked to understand their needs and create an engagement plan based on their priorities. The control arm consisted of signposting, wherein patients were directed to 211-Ontario, a free, online and multilingual phone service that patients contact themselves and which mostly provides information about available resources during the initial call with no planned follow-up. Patients in the ARC arm reported a significantly better experience and greater ability to engage in their care. ARC also improved Francophone patients' access to French-language services specifically.
Why It Matters: The findings suggest a comprehensive, longitudinal navigation service may enable better access to needed health or social resources than a traditional signposting approach and offer insight into populations best served by this type of model.
A Randomized Controlled Trial of Social Prescribing: Comparing a Comprehensive Navigation Model With Signposting
Corresponding Author: Simone Dahrouge, PhD, et al
Bruyère Health Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Permanent and shareable link (accessible beginning 5pm ET, Monday, July 27, 2026)
Accompanying Editorial
There is an accompanying editorial for this study titled "Social Care via In-person Navigation or Signposting? Evidence From a New Randomized Trial Points Toward Intensity"
Corresponding Author: Laura M. Gottlieb, MD, MPH, et al
Social Interventions Research and Evaluation Network, University of California, San Francisco, California
Permanent and shareable link (accessible beginning 5pm ET, Monday, July 27, 2026)
