Social prescribing is a scalable, cost-effective, evidence-informed way to build health, restore meaning and future-proof the care system, according to Associate Professor JR Baker, Chair of ASPIRE, the Australian Social Prescribing Institute of Research and Education.
This is the first in an election series of two sponsored content articles supported by ASPIRE.
JR Baker writes:
When we talk about health in Australia, we still picture hospitals, medications and clinical care. These are the things we rely on when something goes wrong. But more than 80 percent of what shapes our health lies outside the clinic.
Our relationships. Our routines. Our environments, income, housing, education and connection to community. These social determinants of health and health behaviours are the real drivers of wellbeing.
And yet, we spend less than two percent of our health budget on building health and preventing ill health.
Instead, we try to treat our way out of the growing burden of chronic and long-term conditions like cardiovascular disease, dementia, diabetes and depression. These are conditions we can reduce, delay or minimise if we invest in people’s lives before health begins to decline.
Preventative health doesn’t require billion dollar builds. It doesn’t mean putting a hospital on every corner. It means creating access to the human necessities that support wellbeing, including safety, stability, growth, connection, purpose and contribution. These are the building blocks of a healthy life. Preventative health is not expensive, and it adds extraordinary value, personally and for society.
Social prescribing is one of the most effective preventative approaches to creating access to the building blocks of health and quality of life, without increasing demands on our existing health system.
Social prescribing isn’t revolutionary. It’s both common sense and forgotten wisdom.
The wisdom that health is communal and connected has long endured in First Nations cultures and in communities less disconnected by the false comforts of industrialisation. But waves of modernisation and a narrowing belief in biomedical models of health have often pushed aside the rest of what makes us human. We need to actively move back to the complete version of health, the one that considers our practical, physical, mental, social, cultural, emotional and civic health.
Neglecting holistic care is no more defensible than calling cigarette filters a public health campaign. We have a duty to ask the people we work with how they can truly live a life of better quality and health.
Shifting the conversation
So where do we start in our move towards preventative health?
It begins with a shift in conversation. From “What brings you in today?” or “What’s the matter with you?” to “What’s getting in the way of your health today?”, “What matters to you?” and “How can life be more wonderful for you tomorrow?”
Then it goes further by reminding people that they matter. And that what they do matters.
Whether it’s mentoring a grandchild, helping at the local bowls club, singing in a choir, cooking for a neighbour or showing up for the Tuesday walking group, what we do with and for others builds wellbeing. These moments of meaning, joy and contribution are health.
We’re already seeing compelling results across Australia. A program funded by NSW government agency icare provides strong evidence that social prescribing reduces healthcare use, hospitalisations and psychological distress, while improving quality of life, social wellbeing and reducing loneliness.
The economic case is just as compelling. For every dollar invested in social prescribing, the return is between $3.80 and $5.80, depending on whether you factor in wellbeing outcomes alone or include return-to-work impacts. These are not just savings. They are stories of lives changed.
Across Australia, more and more Link Workers are helping make this real. Social prescribing is now being embedded in GP clinics, community managed organisations, libraries, pharmacies, schools, housing services, neighbourhood centres and local charities – and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations have had holistic care embedded in the way they work for decades. The role of a Link Worker is not to fix, but to walk alongside. To help people navigate complexity, discover local opportunities and supports, and reconnect with their own agency, value and community.
Australia doesn’t need more money for treating sickness in the same ways, just scaled up. It needs a new architecture for health, starting with prevention.
That means:
- Co-designed programs tailored to local communities
- Systems that are culturally grounded and outcomes-driven
- Digital infrastructure that supports real-time learning about the things getting in the way of social, emotional, practical, cultural and physical wellbeing
- Flexible funding for place-based innovation
- And national coordination to ensure consistency where it matters and adaptability where it counts.
JR Baker presenting on social prescribing.
The time is now
ASPIRE, the Australian Social Prescribing Institute for Research and Education, stands ready to support this shift. We are building an Australian evidence base, training the workforce, ensuring fidelity to what works, and working with PHNs, departments and communities to embed social prescribing into the heart of our health system.
And the time for that investment is now. The numbers are telling us what’s coming.
The number of Australians turning 80 each year is projected to rise from around 12,000 to more than 60,000 by 2030. We will not have enough hospitals, aged care places or clinicians to meet that demand unless we help more people stay healthy and supported in their communities.
As the World Health Organization reminds us: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
Imagine if next time you (or your loved ones) visited the doctor, you were asked: “What would make life more wonderful?”
What would you say?
More time with your kids? More time outdoors? The chance to rediscover joy, rebuild friendships or feel useful again, not just busy?
That’s not a luxury. It’s health. And it’s what many Australians are quietly missing.
The time to invest in prevention was yesterday. The next best time is today. Tomorrow is not an option.
As our population continues to live longer, the value of a healthier life, where healthspan and lifespan meet, becomes increasingly important. Australia has made smart, nation-building investments to support people at key life stages: education to give us a good start, Medicare to ensure access to care, and superannuation to provide financial security in later life.
But what we’re missing is the next step, a system that invests in wellbeing itself, across the whole of life. Social prescribing does just that. It’s low-cost, high-impact, and the returns begin early and keep compounding. When something as simple as raising grandkids, joining a walking group or helping your neighbour can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and dementia, why are we still pouring billions into treating sickness while overlooking the things that keep us well and add value to those around us?
Sure, social prescribing won’t fix everything. It isn’t going to fix the housing crisis or the environment (although it can help through things like more compassionate communities and people working together to do things like bush regeneration).
But for relatively small investments, we can add enormous value to people’s lives. Every extra year lived without dementia, heart disease or loneliness is precious, to each of us, our families and our friends. The value far outweighs the cost.
Invitation to act
So if you’re a policymaker, funder, clinician or community leader, this is your invitation to act.
Fund it. Embed it. Refer to it. Measure it. Champion it.
Make social prescribing part of your strategy. Not a side project, but a pillar of care.
Social prescribing is a scalable, cost-effective, evidence-informed way to build health, restore meaning and future-proof the care system.
The architecture exists. The evidence is in. The community is ready.
Let’s build a system that sees people as more than patients.
A system that begins with a simple truth:
You matter. What you do matters. And health begins there.
Author details
Associate Professor JR Baker is Chair of ASPIRE, the Australian Social Prescribing Institute of Research and Education.
See Croakey’s archive of articles on social prescribing
