As Loneliness Awareness Week comes to a close, the Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) has supported the value of social prescribing as a health intervention that helps patients connect more and improve their overall health.
Loneliness is recognised as a public health priority for many countries around the world. A recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report found 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.
The WHO estimates loneliness led to 871,000 deaths globally each year from 2014–2019. It may increase the risk of all-cause mortality in older adults by 9–22%, with deeper social isolation increasing risk by 32–33%.
A separate report from Ending Loneliness Together found 43% of young Australians aged 15–25 experience loneliness, and for 15% of them, loneliness was chronic, persisting across two years.
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright said the health effects of loneliness are clear and welcomed the growing recognition of social prescribing – connecting patients to non-medical activities to support health – as an intervention.
"Loneliness Awareness Week highlights the significance and the importance of social connection to our health," he said.
"Key risks factors for poor health, including chronic illness and mental health issues, social isolation, a lack of activity, and a lack of connection with others. Social disconnection can also lead to heart disease, stroke, depression, and anxiety. One study found that lacking social connection is as dangerous as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.
"Social connection should be, and increasingly is, a public health priority.
"Social prescribing is increasingly being recognised as a way to build social wellbeing into primary care, which we saw when the RACGP joined more than 50 other key health bodies to work towards implementation of social prescribing as a parallel system of care last year.
"Loneliness Awareness Week has highlighted the harms. What GPs and patients need is support to implement social prescribing as a cure."
Earlier in the year, the RACGP called for greater use of social prescribing in Australia, particularly in rural and remote areas, and a recent Australian Journal of General Practice article discussed its feasibility and barriers to adoption.
RACGP Specific Interests Social Prescribing Chair Dr Kuljit Singh said the approach 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," she said.
"Social prescribing can strengthen and complement our care in a way that gives patients power and autonomy. Social groups to support exercise, hobbies that build lasting connections – the social structures that support health.
"Social prescribing can be a health approach to addressing the social disconnection we've seen since the pandemic – a script against loneliness.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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."
