wellbeing · 2026 · 3 min read
Social prescribing: why I sometimes recommend a social activity, not a tablet
key points
- A fair bit of what walks into my consult room is not fixed by a prescription pad, it is fixed by having something to do and somebody to do it with.
- This is called social prescribing, and it is supported by the RACGP as part of general practice.
- The evidence for it is real but modest, small to moderate benefit for loneliness, not a cure-all.
- The part that actually makes it work is the first step being small enough to be almost impossible to fail.
- I built a free tool, Find Me a Social Activity, to do that first bit of matching for you.
Not everyone who sits across from me is unwell in a way a test can find. Some of them are just flat, or isolated, or stuck, and what would help most is not another tablet. It is having something to do and somebody to do it with.
What is social prescribing?
Social prescribing is when a GP or health worker connects a person with community activities, groups or services, rather than, or alongside, medication. It might be a walking group, a men's shed, a choir, a library program, anything that gets someone doing something with other people. It is used most often for loneliness, low mood and social isolation, and it is now supported by the RACGP and used across Australian general practice.
In a fully staffed model, this depends on a link worker, someone whose job is to sit with you, work out what would actually suit you, and help you take the first step. Most general practices, mine included, do not have one. So the matching has to happen some other way.
Does it actually work?
Some, not miraculously. Evidence from Australian and international studies shows small to moderate benefits for loneliness, which is honest but still worth having, loneliness is a real and under-treated driver of poor health. It is not a replacement for treating depression, anxiety or a physical illness, and it is not a diagnosis or a risk score. It is one more tool, used alongside whatever else is needed, not instead of it.
Why the first step matters more than the activity
Nobody who is struggling is stuck because they have never heard of gardening. They are stuck because the gap between where they are now and turning up to a class or a club feels enormous. The part of this I care about most is not the list of activities, it is the first step attached to each one, small enough that it is almost impossible to fail, with permission to stop there if that is all you manage this week. That idea is borrowed from behavioural activation, one of the better-evidenced treatments we have for low mood.
A free tool to help you find yours
I built Find Me a Social Activity to do the first half of a link worker's job. Answer nine short questions about how you actually like to spend your time, not how you wish you were, and it suggests activities that fit, each with a tiny first step and where to find it near you in the Macedon Ranges. It runs entirely in your browser, nothing is stored or sent anywhere, and it does not ask about your mood or score you on anything.
If you are reading this because things feel flat rather than because you are curious, that is worth raising with your own GP too. Please talk to them. If things feel unsafe right now, ring Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, and in an emergency call 000.
Dr Ahmed Al-Obaidi · FRACGP
General information only, not personal medical advice. Talk to your own GP about what suits you.