Learnings from the 2023 United Way British Columbia Social Prescribing Programs Co-Creation Sessions

Beginning in 2020, United Way British Columbia introduced 19 Social Prescribing (SP) programs across the province, spanning fourteen urban communities and five rural areas. From October 2020 to April 2023, UWBC collected data from these SP programs to assess their impact on older adults, and to evaluate the successes, challenges, and areas for improvement. Despite the significant disruption caused by the pandemic, organizations adapted and established their programs as restrictions eased. Variations emerged not only due to the pandemic but also from the diverse contexts of different organizations and communities. It became essential to identify the core features of social prescribing programs and understand how they could remain flexible to meet the unique needs, priorities, strengths, and assets of each community.

In early 2023, three co-creation focus group sessions were held with 19 Community Connectors. These sessions were semi-structured, featuring discussion prompts and questions from facilitators, but also allowed for organic discussion. Additional feedback was gathered through close-ended polls. The goals of these co-creation sessions were to:

• Identify core features of the SP programs,
• Build consensus on program design and delivery,
• Identify areas for future support, and
• Provide guidance for a future program manual.

The key findings and insights from these sessions reflect the voices of the 19 Community Connectors. While the initial purpose of these co-creation sessions and this report was to inform the development of a UWBC Social Prescribing Program implementation guide, we hope to share these learnings to support other social prescribing programs to enhance program design, support best practices and implementation, encourage collaboration, and drive innovation.