Why a GP built a hobby finder

A fair bit of my job is not prescriptions. People come in flat, isolated, or just stuck, and what would help most is not another tablet. It is having something to do and somebody to do it with. That has a name, social prescribing, and it is now supported by the RACGP and used across Australian general practice.

The trouble is that it usually depends on a link worker, someone whose job is to sit with you, work out what would suit you and help you take the first step. Most general practices, mine included, do not have one. This tool does the first half of that job.

The part I care about most is not the list of hobbies. It is the first step attached to each one. Nobody who is struggling is stuck because they have never heard of gardening. They are stuck because the gap between where they are and joining a club is enormous. So every suggestion here comes with something small enough to be almost impossible to fail, and permission to stop there. That idea is borrowed from behavioural activation, one of the better evidenced treatments we have for low mood.

Be honest with the questions rather than aspirational. The tool works far better if you tell it what you are like now, not what you wish you were like.

Your privacy

This tool runs entirely inside your browser. There is no account, no server, no database and no analytics on your answers. Nothing you tap is stored or sent anywhere, and it all disappears the moment you close the page. If you print your shortlist, that piece of paper is the only record that ever exists.

What this is not

This is general wellbeing information, not personal medical advice, and it is not a test or an assessment of anything. It does not ask about your mood and it does not score you. If you are struggling, please talk to your own GP. 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.