Social prescribing
The Social Prescribing Team can help you:
- be more active
- be more socially connected
- be healthier
- live well and more independently
- support your mental wellbeing
- support with your finances
What is social prescribing?
Social prescribing enables a GP, nurse or other healthcare professional to refer you to a specialist link worker to talk about the issues you are facing and find the right services to support you.
Link workers give people time, focusing on ‘what matters to me’ and taking a holistic approach to people’s health and wellbeing. They connect people to community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support.
Social prescribing works for a wide range of people, including people:
- with one or more long-term conditions
- who need support with their mental health
- who are lonely or isolated
- who have complex social needs which affect their wellbeing, i.e. money and debt issues, domestic abuse, employment
The service helps you improve your health and wellbeing and to make positive life changes.
- Housing advice
- Mental health support
- Family support
- Money and debt advice
- Domestic abuse support
- Loneliness and social isolation
- Substance misuse
- Employment and training
- Volunteering
- Healthy lifestyle advice
- Long Covid support
Housing advice
We provide housing advice for people who own or rent their home or are looking for somewhere to live. Free advice is available about a wide range of issues please see our housing pages.
Mental health support
Social prescribing is a way of helping you deal with the things in your life that can make you feel unhappy or anxious. Addressing these things takes a little extra time and support. We can help you to access a wide range of activities and support in your local community that can help you turn things around.
Self Referral - or phone 0300 300 1554 Option 3
Family support
Early help is the support we give to children, young people and their families where they have additional needs that aren't being met by the usual services that are available to everyone, such as health and education.
The play and communication service promotes the development of communication by:
- supporting families in group sessions to prevent the onset of speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).
- identifying any SLCN early on at these groups in order to provide timely and appropriate ideas to meet the needs of individual children
- the HENRY programme - which covers a range of topics including nutrition, physical activity, and parenting skills. All taught by our friendly and supportive team
Money and debt advice
Poor mental health can make earning and managing money harder. And worrying about money can make your mental health worse. It can start to feel like a vicious cycle.
The Homes and Money Hub is able to help residents with:
- debt and budgeting advice
- welfare benefit queries
- maximising income
- complex finance enquiries
- young people not in education, employment or training aged (16-18) who need help with their financial situation
Domestic abuse support
Domestic violence describes any violence or abuse that is used by someone to control or obtain power over their partner. It can include physical, sexual, psychological, verbal, emotional and financial abuse.
If you alter your behaviour because you are frightened of how your partner will react, you are being abused. There are a lot of organisations that are able to support you if you are experiencing domestic abuse.
Domestic abuse and sexual violence
Refuge
Refuge website
Telephone: 0300 456 0174
Email: BDAdvocacy@refuge.org.uk
24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline
Freephone: 0808 2000 247
Loneliness and social isolation
There are many reasons why you may feel lonely or feel socially isolated.
There are a number of organisations that are able to offer support and activities to help you begin to reintegrate into the community or have that conversation with a friendly voice each week.
Harmony House Companions befriending service
Telephone: 020 8526 8200 or 020 8526 8215
The Hub at Castle Point
Email: info@communityresources.co.uk
Telephone: 020 8227 1927
Everyone Everyday
Studio 3 Arts for people 55+
Studio3Arts - Guild of experience website
Telephone: 020 8594 7136
Substance misuse
Social prescribing can support you through motivational Interviewing and behaviour change approaches to help you look at ‘what matters to you’ around your recovery and help you achieve your health and well -being goals.
We can refer you to specialist groups and services within the community that can help support your recovery.
Employment and training
Gaining employment or improving your employment prospects through training is important to financial, and general wellbeing.
We can refer you and signpost you to services such as the work and skills. This service consist of the Jobshop and the Adult College, they offer one to one information, advice and guidance to help you reach your employment and training goals, for example - Job application support, CV clinics, interview techniques and preparation, access to apprenticeships and so on.
The team can support you to gain skills through a variety of courses ,improve your employment prospects and general well-being.
Volunteering
Volunteering is one of the social prescriptions on offer. It can help connect you to community groups, voluntary services and statutory services where you can offer your time for a few hours a week.
This can help you improve your confidence, develop new skills, meet with like-minded people and make a difference in your community.
You can become a Community Health champion, a library volunteer, a Community Food Club volunteer, a befriender or volunteer across the many services across Barking and Dagenham.
Healthy lifestyle advice
The Healthy Lifestyles Team offer a range of programmes including Exercise on referral, weight management, stop smoking advice and Young at Heart. The team also offer a range of online programmes that you can access for free.
For support and advice on non-clinical support in Barking and Dagenham including:
- general support for food and groceries
- parenting and family support
- keeping safe at home
- learning and activities
- health advice
- mental health advice
- green activities
- finance and employment support
- housing and homelessness support
- support for residents aged 50+