Building the social prescribing student movement in Canada

INTRODUCTION
Social prescribing is defined as "a means for trusted individuals in clinical and community settings to identify that a person has nonmedical, health-related social needs and to subsequently connect them to nonclinical supports and services within the community by co-producing a social prescription-a nonmedical prescription, to improve health and well-being and to strengthen community connections." Globally, there is growing interest in social prescribing as a holistic approach to health and well-being, with almost 30 countries involved in the social prescribing movement. In Canada, great strides are being made in social prescribing research, policy and practice, with all of this work being supported by the Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing.

• A global network of student champions has emerged to build the social prescribing student movement, with student groups in seven countries, including Canada.

• The Canadian Social Prescribing
Student Collective was established in 2022.• Much progress has been made in building the social prescribing student movement in Canada, but there is a lot of work to be done, which calls for action by students, staff in health care and community organizations, and faculty and administration at postsecondary institutions.• Collective efforts to build the social prescribing student movement in this country will not only shape the wider social prescribing movement, but also the future of our health system.

Introduction
Social prescribing is defined as "a means for trusted individuals in clinical and community settings to identify that a person has nonmedical, health-related social needs and to subsequently connect them to nonclinical supports and services within the community by co-producing a social prescription-a nonmedical prescription, to improve health and well-being and to strengthen community connections." 1,p.9 Globally, there is growing interest in social prescribing as a holistic approach to health and well-being, with almost 30 countries involved in the social prescribing movement. 2In Canada, great strides are being made in social prescribing research, policy and practice, with all of this work being supported by the Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing. 3ongside the rapid expansion of the social prescribing movement around the world, a global network of student champions has emerged to build the social prescribing student movement.In the United Kingdom (UK), where the social prescribing movement began, students have been heavily involved right from the start.In 2017, the UK National Social Prescribing Student Champion Scheme was established by Dr. Bogdan Chiva Giurca-a medical student at the time-to enable students to get involved in learning about, teaching and promoting social prescribing. 4Since then, more than 350 student champions have engaged with over 20 000 learners across the UK. 5 Over the past few years, the social prescribing student movement has expanded to several other countries, including Australia, Japan, Portugal, Singapore and the United States (US). 6

The importance of building the social prescribing student movement in Canada
Throughout history, students have been a driving force behind social movements. 7A recent example of this is the critical role that student activists have played in shaping the Black Lives Matter movement. 8It follows that the social prescribing movement stands to benefit from the power of students to foster social change.Looking at the Canadian context, anecdotal evidence suggests that students are eager to support the movement, and members of the social prescribing community agree that student involvement in the movement is fundamental to its success.
But this is not only about the impact of students on the movement-this is also about the impact of the movement on students.This is about empowering today's Post this article learners, who will become tomorrow's leaders.1][12] The case for this shift has never been clearer given the perfect storm of a pandemic, 13 an aging global population 14 and an estimated global shortage of 18 million health workers (20% of the global workforce) by 2030. 15n the wise words of Hamaad Khan, a medical student and social prescribing champion in the UK, "We must ask ourselves, where is the health in our health system, and where is the care in our health care?" 16 We are at a crisis point, but there is hope for the future; by instilling the values of social prescribing in our students, we will empower them to create health in our health system and deliver care in our health care.This is what we hope to achieve by building the social prescribing student movement in Canada.

The Canadian Social Prescribing Student Collective
The We recently conducted a member experience survey, which revealed that students are benefiting from being involved in our group.When asked about their participation, 82.3% of our members agreed that this group has improved their knowledge of social prescribing, and 88.2% agreed that this group has helped them to connect with other students who are interested in social prescribing.Looking to the future, we hope to expand our efforts, grow our membership, develop a better understanding of the effectiveness of our efforts, and contribute to the social prescribing evidence base by examining relevant areas that have yet to be explored, such as what motivates students to become involved in the social prescribing student movement.

Student contributions to social prescribing efforts in Canada
Students first became involved in social prescribing efforts in Canada several years before the launch of the Canadian Social Prescribing Student Collective.For example, Canada's first social prescribing pilot (2018-2020) benefited from the support of practicum students. 17We note that social prescribing programs have been harnessing the potential of students to act as connectors for more than a decade.

A call to action
While it is important to celebrate the progress that has been made in building the social prescribing student movement thus far, there is a lot of work to be done.This is a call to action for students, staff in health care and community organizations, and faculty and administration at postsecondary institutions to support the advancement of the social prescribing student movement in Canada.[23][24][25] Together, these actions will help to build the social prescribing student movement, which will not only shape the wider social prescribing movement, but also the future of our health system.