Australia’s first ever “social prescribing” pilot program has been found to successfully promote recovery in people injured at work.

Social prescribing involves referring people with health and psychosocial needs to non-medical services that assist in reducing isolation and disadvantage.

The icare Foundation’s 12-week “Plus Social” program in NSW gave injured workers access to relaxation, cooking, art and photography classes, health education, financial and relationship counselling and housing assistance.

Work readiness, social participation and health service utilisation rates all improved.

The foundation invested $1.4 million seed funding in the pilot study, which was co-ordinated by Primary and Community Care Services, between 2017 and 2019. Every dollar invested was found to deliver social and economic benefits worth $3.80.

“There is growing international evidence that social isolation can negatively affect health and wellbeing and we are committed to finding innovative ways to rebuild connection to aid recovery,” icare Group Executive Customer and Community Sara Kahlau said.

Being less active and feeling isolated can be detrimental to injured workers recovering at home, further impacting mental health and extending time off work, she says.

The study found the Plus Social interventions “encouraged optimism and connectedness” to help promote workplace injury recovery.