Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service – loneliness, living alone and poor social connections are seriously bad for your health

Loneliness, living alone and poor social connections

are seriously bad for your health

With two fifths of older people - about 3.9 million in the UK - saying the television is their main source of company we need to help people avoid ill health by making sure that they can enjoy good social connections.

Together you think about what would help you to feel more positive and what support you might need.

The NHS is overwhelmed and not always the right service to support people, which is where social prescribing comes in. Social Prescribing supports those whose health is being affected by loneliness or other social issues by connecting them with activities and organizations in their own community so that they can enjoy today and feel hopeful about tomorrow. This does not only relate to older people but to everyone over the age of 18 who is considered mildly to moderately frail and/or who is struggling in one way or another to manage some of their social issues. All that is asked is that social prescribing participants are actively willing to engage in selfcare/self-help activities. The idea behind it is to help you have more control over your own health and find ways to improve how you feel in a way that suits you. Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service is at the frontline of social prescribing in the Boston, South Holland, South Kesteven and East Lindsey areas of Lincolnshire, where we have a growing team of social prescribing link workers who are currently building relationships with GP surgeries to ensure doctors understand the benefits of referring patients to us. Although self referral is an option with social prescribing, some people’s first contact with one of our link workers could be as a referral from your GP if they believe medicine alone may not be the best solution for the issues you are experiencing. At its most basic a social prescription offers the kind of help that doesn’t come in a tube or bottle.

Social prescribing is person centered.

This means that the social prescribing link workers begin by having a chat about what is important to you. Together you think about what would help you to feel more positive and what support you might need. Social prescribing is based in your own community.

This means that we will work with you to find the best solution for your particular needs.

Feeling connected to the place we live and the people around us is good for our health. Our social prescribing link workers will always connect people with local activities and organisations so that they can continue to attend them once our support has ended. Social prescribing respects your lifestyle choices. Our participants choose to get involved in all kinds of activities including craft groups, horse riding, sports, walking, mens sheds, U3A and many more. Our link workers are skilled and could recommend lots of alternatives but most important are the choices that support your lifestyle choice. This means that we will work with you to find the best solution for your particular needs. Which may include introducing you to a community group, a new activity or a local club. It could even be legal advice or volunteers to help around the house or just passing on information about available local resources. Whatever it is, studies show that patients with social prescriptions get better and feel better faster than those treated with medicine alone. And because it works, social prescribing is happening more and more. If you are interested in finding out more about Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service’s social prescribing work, email lincolnshirecvs. socialprescribing@nhs.net or call 01205 314479. You can also visit our website at www.lincolnshirecvs.org.uk

Retirement

Lots of people work towards the goal of retirement, the day when we leave work and don’t have to go back! The promise of carefree days when you can do whatever you wish. However, the reality can be a little different, particularly once the list of jobs has been completed and the lack of routine means that some days feel a little empty. Before retiring it’s good to think about how you will use your time, perhaps you could volunteer with a local charity or begin a new hobby. If your job keeps you active think about how you will keep fit once the demands of the job are removed.