Long-term conditions are a major driver of NHS costs, estimated to exceed £115bn each year, a figure reflecting the complexity of care needed by those with chronic conditions including asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), diabetes, arthritis, epilepsy, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, and heart disease. 

With this in mind, Ways to Wellness is sad to confirm that the project that led to our founding is to come to an end this summer, having supported more than 11,000 client journeys over the last 10 years. 

Ways to Wellness is paying its learning forward this #SocialPrescribingDay by investigating the ways in which the delivery of community health services can best support specific groups of people.

In addition to hosting social prescribing link workers operating within some of of our pilot projects and prototypes, we often take a role grounded in research in order to further our mission to tackle health inequalities. 

Case in point is a study we're involved in to identify the ways in which link workers can best support young mums and birthing parents with their mental health.