E1 - Implementing Social Prescribing and other Social Interventions: Learnings and Critical Reflections

1. Expanding access to team-based care

  • Date: 2024-10-25
  • Concurrent Session: Concurrent Session E
  • Time: 9:45- 10:30 am
  • Room:
  • Style: Workshop (session is structure for interaction and/or hands-on learning opportunities)
  • Focus: Practical (e.g. Presentation on how to implement programs and/or practices in the team environment)
  • Target Audience: Leadership (ED, clinical lead, board chair, board member, etc.)    Clinical providers        Representatives of stakeholder/partner organizations
     

Learning Objectives:

Participants will learn: 

  • To describe the implementation of interventions targeting social determinants of health and health inequities in a large multidisciplinary primary care team. 
  • To critically examine the barriers and enablers to creating social interventions, with a specific focus on a community-led social prescribing program
  • To explore and offer lessons to address the practical challenges to embedding a community-focused and community-led social interventions program in a large interdisciplinary family health team.  

Summary/Abstract:
   Primary care teams in Ontario have been at the forefront of developing approaches to address the social determinants of health and health inequities through health care.  The St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Team, a large interdisciplinary FHT serving almost 50 000 rostered patients, is internationally recognized for its development, evaluation, implementation and dissemination of social interventions.  The team’s latest initiative is a community-led social prescribing intervention for older adults.       This workshop will discuss the creation of a program of interventions targeting the social determinants of health and health inequities, and how this has impacted the culture and strategic direction of this team.  The presenters will describe their program development process and offer a critical assessment of the barriers and enablers to creating social interventions, with a specific analysis of their community-led social prescribing program, in an institution without an explicit community health or social health mandate.        Attendees will leave this presentation with practical tips and tools to support program development and implementation and having had the opportunity to engage in honest discussion about the potential and pitfalls of embedding social interventions in interdisciplinary primary care teams.  
 

Presenter:

  • Gary Bloch    Family Physician; Physician Lead, Social Interventions and Equity    St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Team    
  • Nassim Vahidi-Williams    Manager of Community and Patient Engagement    St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Team
  • Orit Adose    Community Health Promoter    St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Team
  • Sandesh Basnet    SEED Program Link Worker    St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Team