Introduction: Social Prescribing works as a catalyst for collaboration among vastly different sectors and agencies to ensure older Albertans have access to the social supports they need to thrive and age with dignity.
A new program is underway in the Bonnyville area with a mission to help older residents traverse the space between medical intervention and community services.
On Oct. 1, 2025, Bonnyville and District Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) successfully obtained a two-year grant from Healthy Aging Alberta (HAA) to provide Social Prescribing to seniors in its catchment area. This includes both the Town and MD of Bonnyville as well as the Village of Glendon.
Social Prescribing is an additional tool healthcare professionals can use to assist in the overall wellbeing of the patients they treat.
“Our social determinants of health account for 80 per cent of our overall health. The other 20 per cent is the more formal interactions with a physician and a doctor,” explains Michael Procinsky, the Northern Alberta Regional Community Developer for HAA.
“Once we have financial security figured out, affordable and accessible transportation, good housekeeping, [and are able to] keep up to date with benefits and pension, our overall well-being and wellness skyrockets.”
But navigating health systems and social supports, on top of housing and other social needs, can be a daunting task to take on by oneself – especially when most things must be accessed and submitted online.
Rather than jumping through hoops, many seniors may simply choose to go without, decide to stay in or disconnect completely. This can have detrimental impacts on one’s overall health.
Through Social Prescribing, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals can connect older adults with a link worker to prevent them from falling through the cracks once they leave their office.
A link worker is a community-based worker, as opposed to a clinical social worker within the hospital setting.
Bonnyville is the latest community to receive funding through HAA to implement Social Prescribing for its residents. HAA is currently funding 18 Social Prescribing programs across the province.
With the funding received from HAA, the Bonnyville FCSS was able to hire its own designated link worker in January of this year.
The Bonnyville program is currently in the early stages of being able to take referrals from healthcare professionals, says Procinsky.
The role of the link worker is to advocate for their client to get what they need within their home to age well in place. This means acting as a bridge between the healthcare system and other community services.
“Both the link worker and the older adult are part of the care team. So they are working together around advocacy to their family doctor or other healthcare professionals to ensure they have the supports they need from a medical perspective to engage in the community in a really meaningful way,” Procinsky said.
For now, Bonnyville will maintain one link worker with the goal of helping 30 to 45 older adults for each year that the grant continues.
Those who can provide Social Prescriptions include professionals in Primary Care Networks, the hospital, medical clinics, and pharmacies; or specialized workers with a health designation.
Following a referral, a link worker can help seniors get access to local services and programs offered by community partners, based on their individual needs. This could include finding affordable transportation, light house cleaning, social events; or addressing more serious concerns like housing and food insecurity or physical, financial or sexual
abuse.
Procinsky said that while disclosure of crises might take place with a trusted link worker, when concerns come up outside of a link worker’s scope of practice they are equipped to refer out to the appropriate crisis management professionals in the region.
“The link worker in Bonnyville is well versed in what is available. Even though they are not necessarily the ones that are responding to it in the way of intervention, there are other professionals in our community,” Procinsky said.
“It doesn’t happen overnight. We move at the speed of trust, which can be slow sometimes, but that’s exactly the pace that it needs to be to make sure that we’re building that confidence in older adults and seniors across our region.”
Bonnyville area residents that are interested in having a link worker to help them navigate their health and social wellbeing should speak to one of their healthcare providers.
“We do encourage folks… talk to your doctor. If your doctor doesn’t know what Social Prescribing is, come back to [Healthy Aging Alberta]. We will send brochures to make sure they know and then they can do a referral to Bonnyville FCSS and get you connected to that link worker,” said Procinsky. “The true essence of social prescribing is that it’s a formalized referral pathway from health care providers.”
Age Friendly Cold Lake has its own Social Prescribing Program for older adults that can be accessed online. This program is not funded through HAA.
Healthy Aging Alberta is a seniors-focused organization that was launched by United Way Calgary and Area in 2020. Its mission is to connect, strengthen and amplify networks of community-based seniors-serving (CBSS) organizations and groups. Its service delivery model includes three main areas of focus: Social Prescribing, transportation and community supports.
The non-profit organization is funded by the Government of Alberta and Waltons Trust. It is responsible for redistributing those funds through community grants across the province.
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