A social prescribing program in New York helped reduce loneliness and social isolation among participating older adults.  

Background 

Loneliness and social isolation remain common among older adults and can negatively affect health and well-being. SocialRx, a community-based social prescribing initiative developed by UJA-Federation of New York, seeks to address these challenges by connecting individuals to meaningful community programs and services based on their needs, interests, and goals. This program spotlight provides an overview of the SocialRx model and highlights implementation lessons for social prescribing stakeholders. 

About this Resource 

This program spotlight is intended for health care organizations, community-based organizations, funders, and policymakers interested in social prescribing. It describes the SocialRx model, which uses Connections Specialists embedded within community-based organizations to help older adults identify goals, address barriers, and facilitate warm handoffs to community resources and programs. The resource outlines referral pathways, staffing and funding approaches, outcome measurement strategies, and implementation lessons. Key implementation lessons include investing in dedicated link worker roles, partnering with trusted community institutions, and planning for long-term sustainability from the outset. 

It also shared program data, showing that between 2021 and 2025, the program served more than 4,000 older adults. Findings from an analysis of 656 participants with matched baseline and follow-up data found that 63% experienced improvement in at least one measure of loneliness or isolation, with the largest gains observed among those reporting the highest levels of loneliness at enrollment.  

Program/Policy Takeaways 

SocialRx demonstrates how relationship-based social prescribing, through dedicated link workers and trusted community partnerships, can help reduce loneliness and isolation among older adults. Organizations developing similar programs can learn from this program to understand key considerations for implementation, including dedicated link workers, prioritizing participant-defined goals, using standardized outcome measures, and adapting to meet a community’s unique needs.