Support at your GP Practice
When you visit your GP surgery the clinician you see may advise that you have some one-to-one support from one of our Social Prescribing Link workers. They may identify that you are feeling a bit isolated, need support to access better housing, grants, benefits, manage your health conditions or simply for you to find out what is in the community for you to access.
Our Link workers will give you time, listen carefully to you, focus on what matters to you and connect you to activities, groups, and appropriate services in the community to help meet your practical, social, or emotional needs.
You can also contact us yourself if we work in your GP surgery, you do not have to wait for a Clinician to refer you.
Wellbeing is more than physical health
Social Prescribing aims to look at what matters to you in your life, and what areas need time and attention to make you happier.
Our Link Workers can meet with you regularly to listen and offer guidance in a safe and confidential one to one setting, by connecting you to a range of support. This support can include mental health support, housing support, transport, exercise classes, gardening groups, singing groups and much more.
Frequently asked questions
Social Prescribing is a personalised care approach that offers practical and emotional support, connecting people to activities, groups, and services in the community to meet their practical, social and emotional needs affecting their health and wellbeing.
Social prescribing can help with any non-clinical needs that are affecting someone’s health and wellbeing. Examples can include:
- One of more long term health condition such as diabetes, chronic pain, arthritis
- Loneliness and isolation
- Housing support
- Money and debt
- Physical activity and weight loss
- Mental health and wellbeing
The Social Prescribing Link Worker for your GP surgery will get in touch to arrange an initial appointment with you. This usually takes around 40 minutes and is about identifying what challenges you are facing and what you would like support with. This can be over the phone or in person at your GP surgery.
Your Link Worker will use the information from this initial meeting to co-produce a personalised care and support plan.
Some examples of support may include:
- Connecting someone to a befriending group, or group activity such as an art class or community gardening project
- Supporting someone with dementia to join a dementia choir or dementia café
- Working with someone with high blood pressure to join an exercise class
- Helping someone struggling with financial stress to apply for the benefits they are entitled to
Social prescribing is a 12 week service. Once you have had an initial meeting with your Link Worker and a personalised care and support plan has been created for you, your Link Worker will schedule some additional appointments to catch up on your progress and make amendments to the plan if needed.
At the end of the 12 weeks, your Link Worker will review your plan and obtain feedback about the support you received.
We cover over 100 GP surgeries across Kent and Medway. Including:
- All Maidstone surgeries
- All Weald surgeries, including Headcorn
- All Tonbridge and Malling surgeries
- Most Dover and Folkestone surgeries
- All Sittingbourne surgeries
- Some Gravesend surgeries
- Some Dartford surgeries
- Medway surgeries in Hoo and surrounding areas
- Romney Marsh surgeries
To get referred, speak to your GP surgery .
Get in touch
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