10/02/2025
As a community health care organization serving newcomers, we see our clients face ongoing challenges due to social determinants of health (SDOH) like racism, income, food security, and access to health care.
This Community Health and Wellbeing Month, we’re sharing some of the work being done to improve health outcomes for our clients and their communities. This includes social prescribing, which addresses some SDOH-related barriers.
Instead of asking, “What’s the matter with you?”, service providers ask clients, “What matters to you?”, and then prescribe community-based resources and activities that align with their interests and goals. This can not only empower individuals, but also foster a sense of belonging, improve mental health, and contribute to a more accessible, equitable system of care.
Our “Social Medicine for Sara” comic book tells the story of how a newcomer youth benefits from this practice.
To read the book, what inspired it, and to understand why social prescribing with a health equity lens is essential to creating real system access, please visit: https://accessalliance.ca/home/blog/social-medicine-for-sara/
