How Social Prescribing Can Help Combat the Winter Blues on Canadian Campuses
Dalla Lana School of Public Health
Experts explain the concept of social prescribing and why this non-clinical approach to health could be key to improving student wellbeing.
By Ishani Nath
What matters to your wellbeing?
That’s the question that postdoctoral fellow Nicole D’souza asks students attending her lecture on social prescribing and mental health. The answers she hears are things like spending time with friends, family, going for a run or listening to music.
“Surprisingly, no one says things that you would find in a doctor’s office,” says D’souza, a CIHR Health Systems Impact Fellow at DLSPH.
D’souza’s question highlights the activities and connections that make a big difference for our health – aspects that our current health systems can overlook. Social prescribing aims to better incorporate these non-clinical aspects of wellbeing into healthcare. Experts say this model could be game changing for students, particularly during the winter months.
