What is Links2Wellbeing (L2W)?
Bringing together the social and medical models of health, Links2Wellbeing (L2W) is a social prescribing initiative that enables primary and allied health providers to refer socially isolated older adults to community programs using the familiar and trusted process of writing a prescription. As a strengths-based approach, social prescribing enables healthcare providers to address the social determinants of health by referring patients to non-clinical supports that are chosen according to a person’s interests, goals, and gifts.
L2W is delivered by OACAO in partnership with the Alliance for Healthier Communities—a 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.
Learn more about Social Prescribing
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 (L2
W) is open to all OACAO member centres and Seniors Active Living Centres. Check out our map of participating partners, including Community Health Centres that are ready to send referrals.
L2W creates new referral pathways; connects Centres with isolated and lonely older adults; helps reduce participation barriers by co-creating participation plans with clients and providing subsidies to those who need them; connects Centres with provincial and national communities of practice; and offers training and outreach materials to launch and sustain a social prescribing initiative.
Check out the L2W flyer for SALCs and OACAO members to learn more about social prescribing, who might benefit from a prescription, the benefits to your Centre and clients, and what the L2W pathway looks like in practice.
Interested in learning more? Email Dena Silverberg, Links2Wellbeing Outreach and Engagement Coordinator at dena@oacao.org.
Are You a Healthcare Provider?
Check out our Poster and Flyer to learn more about the L2W social prescribing pathway and how the project can support your older adult patients.
If you are interested in a presentation to your primary or allied healthcare team on the benefits of social prescribing on the health and well-being of your patients, the L2W project team is keen to speak to those who are interested in learning more about this transformative model. There are many participating Seniors’ Centres across the province ready to receive your referrals!
To explore speaking opportunities for your group, please send an email to L2W@oacao.org.
Participating Seniors’ Centres and Community Health Centres
Explore the map to find information on participating Seniors’ Centres or Community Health Centres near you.
Links2Wellbeing builds on the pioneering work of Rx: Community, a made-in-Ontario program that began in 2018, as well as OACAO’s pilot SITS Rx (Social Inclusion through Social Prescription) that ran from 2020-2021. L2W began with PHASE 1 (2021-24) and is now implementing PHASE 2 (2024-28).
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 (SALCs) and Member Centres as well as 27 Community Health Centres (CHCs) 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 have a growing map of engaged Seniors Active Living Centres and Community Health Centres; active projects across Ontario, powered by a network of staff, volunteers, and students from diverse post-secondary institutions; and expanding referral sources, from community paramedics, pharmacists, and hospitals, to police services and hospices.
Read more about our learnings and activities through our 2026 Project Review and Impact snapshot.
Achievements at a Glance (2025-2026)
Client Impact Stories
Clients report that not only do they experience a decline in loneliness within 6 months (53%) 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 pro
vider (38%) and fewer emergency department visits (28%) after one year.
Each year, we also ask clients to reflect on the most significant change in their lives, asking them:
- What is the most significant change you’ve experienced since joining the SALC?
- Why is this change important to you?
- How has this change influenced your life?
Their stories demonstrate the remarkable impact that being “prescribed” to a SALC/Older Adult Centre has on their lives. Check out some recent client testimonials from this past project year (April 2025-March 2026)!
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.
Download the quilt to explore how the project has enhanced people’s 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.
Research: Community Compass Project
As part of Links2Wellbeing, the OACAO team undertook an applied research project to explore the role that informal networks play in supporting older adults and the ways in which they complement the work of formal organizations.
The overarching goal of the project – entitled, Community Compass: Identifying Informal Community Supports and Networks Accessed by Older Adults
(Pat Spadafora, July 2026) – was to identify and describe a small sample of informal, community-based supports accessed by older adults (50+) living in three different population centres. The objective was to explore how informal community supports and networks can “fill the gaps,” complementing services offered by formal organizations. Identifying those deep, often-invisible informal networks is key to making social prescribing truly effective and sustainable. It allows the formal system to leverage existing community strengths and assets rather than always having to create new programs.
Through key informant interviews and focus groups, the project explored common themes and made recommendations for how Seniors’ Centres can leverage, support, and integrate informal networks to maximize their community impact.
Read the report here.
“Strong communities are built on more than formal systems of care. Informal networks of neighbours, families, volunteers, and community members create the everyday connections that help everyone, including older adults, remain independent, reduce social isolation, and maintain a sense of purpose and belonging. Investing in these relationships is not simply a compassionate choice–it is an essential component of healthy, age-friendly communities.”
– Ghislaine Boulianne, Founder, Women on Wilson (WOW), Tilsonburg, Ontario
Links2Wellbeing in the News
Interested in news and media coverage of local L2W initiatives? Click here for a listing.
