The short answer
- Ask at the GP practiceThe surgery can refer your parent to a link worker. Pharmacies, hospital discharge teams, social care and local charities can refer too, and some schemes take a call from the person themselves.
- A link worker connects people rather than caring for themThey listen, agree a simple plan with your parent and introduce them to groups and services. They do not give personal care or visit week after week.
- The connections are local and variedArts and singing groups, walking and gardening, befriending, volunteering, and advice on benefits, debt or housing, depending on what runs near your parent.
- Getting there the first time is where family help countsThe link worker may go along once. After that, a lift, a reminder or a companion to go with them keeps the routine going.
Everything about social prescribing on this page comes from NHS England. Figures for carers on PrimeCarers are current as of September 2026, with our fee included.
What it is
What social prescribing is, and who it is meant for
Social prescribing is part of the NHS. It sits alongside medicine and treatment, and it is aimed at the parts of life that affect health but that a prescription cannot reach.
NHS England describes social prescribing as an approach that connects people to activities, groups and services in their community to meet the practical, social and emotional needs that affect their health and wellbeing. The person who does the connecting is a social prescribing link worker. Link workers are attached to GP practices through primary care networks, though some are employed by a local charity that runs the scheme with the practices. You may hear them called a community link worker, a wellbeing coordinator or a social prescriber, which are different names for the same job.
NHS England says social prescribing works particularly well for four groups of people.
People with a long-term condition
People who need support with low mood
People who are lonely or isolated
People with complex social needs
If loneliness is the main worry, how to help a lonely elderly person looks at building a fuller week, and companionship care explains what a paid companion does.
From the GP to the group
The route from a word with the GP to the first group
Each stop below shows what happens and what you, as family, can do to help it along. The details vary between areas, but the shape of the route is the one NHS England sets out.
Other ways in, besides the GP
NHS England lists many agencies that can refer somebody to a link worker, and says self-referral is encouraged. Whether a local scheme takes a direct call varies, so ask the practice.
- A pharmacy
- A hospital discharge team
- The council or social care services
- A housing association
- A local charity or community group
- Your parent, referring themselves
Start
Talk to the GP practice
What happens
Your parent, or you with their agreement, asks the surgery about social prescribing and a referral to the link worker. NHS England's aim is that everybody in England can reach a social prescribing service through their GP practice.
What you can do
Say plainly what the week looks like: how many days pass without seeing anyone, and what they used to enjoy.
Stop 2
A referral to the link worker
What happens
Somebody at the practice passes your parent's details to the link worker. The link worker may be based in the practice or employed by a local charity that works with it.
What you can do
Ask the surgery how long it usually takes to hear back and how the link worker will get in touch, so a call from an unknown number is not ignored.
Stop 3
A first conversation about what matters to them
What happens
The link worker gives your parent time to talk about their life, their interests and what gets in the way. Where somebody is isolated, NHS England says a home visit may help.
What you can do
If your parent would like you there, ask whether you can join. A son or daughter can help them remember the things they have stopped doing.
Stop 4
A simple plan
What happens
Together they write down what matters to your parent, the groups and services they will be connected to, and what they can expect from each one.
What you can do
Ask your parent to show you the plan, so the family knows what has been suggested and on which days.
Stop 5
The first group, class or appointment
What happens
The link worker introduces your parent to the group. Where somebody does not have the confidence to go alone, the link worker may go with them the first time.
What you can do
Sort out how they will get there and back. If the link worker cannot go with them, a relative, a friend or a paid companion can.
Where the route ends
Follow-up, then carrying on
What happens
The link worker checks that your parent is happy there and getting on. NHS England says link workers typically see somebody over 6 to 12 contacts, usually across about three months.
What you can do
Keep the routine going once the link worker steps back, with a regular lift or a reminder the day before.
Your parent can ask for the link worker themselves, or you can ask on their behalf if they agree. Link workers work with families as well: NHS England's summary guide to social prescribing says link workers consider how the person, their family and their carers can all be supported.
The surgery is not the only way in. NHS England's answers to common questions list pharmacies, hospital discharge teams, local authorities, social care services, housing associations and voluntary organisations among those who can refer, and say that self-referral is encouraged. If your parent is in hospital, the discharge team is worth asking before they come home.
What they connect people to
The kinds of group and support a link worker can connect someone to
What a link worker suggests depends on what your parent enjoys and what runs near them. NHS England gives these kinds as examples. Nobody can promise that every one exists in every town.
Creative groups
Arts, singing, crafts
Getting outdoors
Walking and gardening
Company and befriending
One to one, or in a group
Giving time back
Volunteering
Practical advice
Benefits, debt, housing
Learning and sport
Classes and gentle exercise
If benefits advice is part of the plan, it is worth checking whether your parent could claim Attendance Allowance, which is not means tested. If your parent has dementia, what dementia cafes are explains one kind of group a link worker may know about.
Link worker and companion
What a link worker does, and where a paid companion fits
A link worker is there to connect your parent to things and help them get started. They do not provide care, and they are not a regular visitor. A paid companion is a different kind of help, and the two can work together.
| A social prescribing link worker | A paid companion | |
|---|---|---|
| How you get one | A referral from the GP practice or another local agency, or self-referral where the scheme allows it. | You search for a carer near your parent and agree the visits with them directly. |
| What it costs | Nothing. It is an NHS service, and NHS services are free except where Parliament allows a charge. | £15 to £20 an hour on PrimeCarers, with our fee included. |
| How long it lasts | Typically 6 to 12 contacts, usually across about three months. | As long as it suits your parent and the carer, on the days you agree. |
| Going to the group | May go along the first time, where your parent lacks the confidence to go alone. | Can go every week, and drive if you find a carer who does. |
| Personal care, medication or meals | No. This is outside the role. | Light help around the visit, and personal care from a carer who offers it. |
How you get one
- A social prescribing link worker
- A referral from the GP practice or another local agency, or self-referral where the scheme allows it.
- A paid companion
- You search for a carer near your parent and agree the visits with them directly.
What it costs
- A social prescribing link worker
- Nothing. It is an NHS service, and NHS services are free except where Parliament allows a charge.
- A paid companion
- £15 to £20 an hour on PrimeCarers, with our fee included.
How long it lasts
- A social prescribing link worker
- Typically 6 to 12 contacts, usually across about three months.
- A paid companion
- As long as it suits your parent and the carer, on the days you agree.
Going to the group
- A social prescribing link worker
- May go along the first time, where your parent lacks the confidence to go alone.
- A paid companion
- Can go every week, and drive if you find a carer who does.
Personal care, medication or meals
- A social prescribing link worker
- No. This is outside the role.
- A paid companion
- Light help around the visit, and personal care from a carer who offers it.
A link worker and a companion do different jobs. The link worker finds the group, and a companion can make sure your parent keeps going.
Some people will go to a group on their own once they have been introduced. Others, especially somebody frail, housebound for much of the week or anxious in new places, need somebody beside them for longer than the link worker can give. That is where a volunteer befriender or a paid companion comes in, and befriender, volunteer or paid companion sets out what each free route covers and when paying makes sense.
Going the first time
How to help your parent go to the first group
Walking into a room of strangers is hard at any age, and harder after months at home. NHS England recognises this: people may be introduced to a group in person so that they do not have to take that first step alone.
- 1
Find out what the group is like before the day
The week beforeAsk the link worker, or ring the group, about the room, the stairs, the toilets, how many people come and whether there is a charge. - 2
Sort out getting there and back
Before the dayArrange a lift, check the bus, or book somebody to take them, and agree a time to be collected. - 3
Make sure somebody goes with them
On the dayAsk whether the link worker can come. If not, go yourself, or ask a friend or a companion. Arriving a few minutes early is easier than walking in late. - 4
Ask how it went, and tell the link worker
AfterwardsIf it was not right, that is useful to know. The link worker can suggest something else, and a second try at a different group is part of the process. - 5
Help the second visit happen
The following weekA reminder the day before and the same lift at the same time turn one visit into a habit.
If your father turns down anything that sounds like help, companionship for older men has ideas for starting with an activity rather than an offer of company, and how to get someone to accept care covers the conversation itself. Activities to try with a companionship carer is useful once a companion is involved.
If you want a companion to go with your parent to the first group or class, and to keep going with them after, you can search for carers near you and compare their rates without signing up to anything.
Questions
Questions families ask about social prescribing
Yes, with her agreement. Ring her GP practice and ask about a referral to the social prescribing link worker. NHS England says a wide range of local agencies can refer, including pharmacies, social care services and local charities, and that self-referral is encouraged, so she may also be able to contact the scheme directly.
Seeing the link worker does not. It is an NHS service, and the NHS Constitution says NHS services are free of charge except in limited circumstances allowed by Parliament. Some of the groups and classes a link worker suggests may ask for a small contribution, so ask before the first visit.
They may. NHS England says home visits can help where somebody is isolated or lonely, and that link workers make them where appropriate. Contacts can also be phone calls or meetings, so ask the surgery how the scheme near your father works.
NHS England says link workers typically support somebody over 6 to 12 contacts, usually across about three months, depending on what the person needs. They check your parent is settled and then step back, so it helps to plan who will keep the routine going after that.
Tell the link worker. Part of their job is knowing what exists locally and spotting gaps, and NHS England says they help people start new groups. In the meantime, a befriending service or a paid companion can give company at home. Befriender, volunteer or paid companion compares the options.