Links2Wellbeing - OACAO

Links2Wellbeing

Check out our project video to hear the voices of healthcare providers, staff, volunteers, and participants at Seniors Active Living Centres across Ontario!


What is Links2Wellbeing?

Links2Wellbeing (L2W) is transforming the way healthcare providers link older adults in Ontario to social and recreational opportunities. Bringing together the social and medical models of health and wellness, L2W enables family physicians, nurse practitioners, and other allied health providers such as social workers, community paramedics, and pharmacists to refer socially isolated older adults to community programs using the familiar and trusted process of writing a prescription.

Links2Wellbeing is delivered by OACAO in partnership with the Alliance for Healthier Communities—a vibrant network of community-governed, team-based primary healthcare organizations dedicated to supporting people across the province who are facing the highest barriers to health and well-being.

This project builds on the pioneering work of Rx: Community, a made-in-Ontario social prescribing program that began in 2018, as well as OACAO’s pilot project SITS Rx (Social Inclusion through Social Prescription) that ran from 2020-2021. Powered by generous funding from The Waltons Trust, the Links2Wellbeing project began with Phase 1 (2021-2024) and is now successfully implementing Phase 2 (2024-2028)!

What is Social Prescribing?

Bridging clinical and social care, social prescribing enables healthcare providers to address the social determinants of health by formally referring patients to non-clinical supports that are chosen according to a person’s interests, goals, and gifts.

Within the Links2Wellbeing project, reasons for referrals often include loneliness and social isolation. Given that these are non-medical challenges, they can be difficult to address through conventional means of clinical care.

As a strengths-based approach, social prescribing enables people to direct their own care. It empowers people to improve their health and well-being by developing new skills, participating in meaningful activities, and becoming more connected to their communities.

Social prescribing moves away from asking people, “What’s the matter with you?” to asking, “What matters to you”?

Some of the benefits of social prescribing include:

  • Strengthening social and community connections and expanding networks of peer support
  • Improving physical health, fostering emotional and mental well-being, and reducing loneliness
  • Empowering individuals to identify their needs and values and to connect with what matters most to them
  • Helping reduce emergency department and primary care visits
  • Enabling healthcare providers to use their time more effectively by directing clients to supports that can best address their non-medical needs

Learn More

Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing:  www.socialprescribing.ca

Alliance for Healthier Communities:  www.allianceon.org/Social-Prescribing

National Academy for Social Prescribing:  www.socialprescribingacademy.org.uk/

Are You a Seniors Active Living Centre or Older Adult Centre?

Links2Wellbeing is open to all OACAO member centres and Seniors Active Living Centres.* There are spaces available!

By joining our growing network, you can engage volunteers in meaningful ways; create new referral pathways; build your membership; access microgrants to reduce participation barriers (e.g., subsidies for membership and program fees); join provincial and national communities of practice; receive training and extensive outreach materials; and more!

Each year, there is a rolling application deadline until the limited number of spots are filled. Please email Dena Silverberg, Links2Wellbeing Project Coordinator at dena@oacao.org to learn more!

*Not yet a member of the OACAO? We encourage you to reach out to discuss participation options.

Are You a Healthcare Provider?

Check out our Promotional Poster and click on the map below of Links2Wellbeing partners to find information for participating Seniors Active Living Centres or Community Health Centres near you!

Click on this map

Where Have We Been?

During PHASE 1 (2021-2024), the Links2Wellbeing Project saw some incredible successes:

  • Over 1,500 referrals were made to older adults experiencing social isolation, loneliness, and depression
  • 93 Seniors Active Living Centres and OACAO Member Centres as well as 27 Community Health Centres participated
  • Referral sources included Family Health Teams, Community Health Centres, and other healthcare providers

Where Are We Now?

Now in PHASE 2 (2024-2028), Links2Wellbeing is expanding in reach and scope!

We now have a growing map of Seniors Active Living Centres and Community Health Centres participating; active projects all across Ontario, powered by an incredible network of staff and volunteers; increased engagement from students from post-secondary institutions across the province; and expanding referral sources, from community paramedics, pharmacists, and hospitals, to unique connections with police services and even funeral homes.

Read more about our recent successes, learnings, and activities through our 2025 Project Review and Impact snapshot.

Our Data at a Glance

Client Impact Stories

Clients report that not only do they experience a decline in loneliness within 6 months and a sustained, positive impact over time, but that participating at the Seniors Active Living Centre (SALC) results in fewer appointments with their primary care provider (48%) and fewer emergency department visits (32%) after one year.

Each year, we also invite clients to reflect on the most significant change that has occurred in their lives, asking:

  •  What is the most significant change that has happened to you since you started at the SALC?
  •  Why is this change significant to you?
  •  How has this change impacted your life?

Their first-hand stories demonstrate the remarkable impact that participating in Seniors Active Living Centres through a social prescribing pathway has on their lives.

To explore key themes and testimonials, check out our most recent Client Stories Report.

Social Prescribing Community Quilt

Throughout the project, healthcare providers, staff, volunteers, and clients have told us about the impact that social prescribing has on people’s health and well-being. Together, their testimonials create a social prescribing quilt where each square reflects the stories of those whose lives have been touched.

This quilt highlights the ways in which the project has enhanced social skills, rekindled connections, fostered collaboration between community agencies and healthcare providers, reduced primary care visits, increased clients’ sense of purpose, and encouraged them to give back to their communities.

Download the Social Prescribing Community Quilt to read about the project’s transformative impact!

Looking for a Speaker?

Interested in a presentation on Links2Wellbeing and the benefits of social prescribing on holistic health and well-being?

Whether for your academic class, healthcare team, recreation colleagues, faith community, special interest group, or any other audience, OACAO’s L2W project team is keen to speak to people who are interested in learning more about this transformative model.

To explore speaking opportunities for your group, send an email to L2W@oacao.org!

Links2Wellbeing News Coverage 

Funding for the Links2Wellbeing project has been generously provided by The Waltons Trust