Leveraging the power of positive childhood experiences: a case study of a social prescribing program for children and youth in Canada

Amid increasing interest and investment in interventions that produce positive childhood experiences (PCEs), our goal was to develop, implement, and evaluate a social prescribing program for children and youth in an underserved community. This paper outlines our program development, implementation, and evaluation efforts. Our program was based in a social paediatric hub in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Following an eight-month period of program development, we launched the program in May 2023 and conducted a ten-month pilot, with an embedded program evaluation and knowledge mobilization strategy. The evaluation drew on sociodemographic and electronic medical record data, semi-structured interviews with participants, caregivers, hub staff, and community partners, and an open-ended survey for medical trainees. Central to this work was a shared commitment to community engagement, health equity, and quality improvement. During our ten-month pilot, we served 43 children and youth between 4–17 years of age (mean = 10 years of age). There was a high proportion of males (n = 27; 63%), people whose first language was not English or French (n = 16; 37%), Francophones (n = 14; 33%), people born outside of North America (n = 18; 42%), newcomers (n = 15; 35%), ethnic and racial minorities (n = 33; 77%), and people with disabilities (n = 32; 74%). Participants came from families facing multiple socioeconomic barriers. Altogether, participants completed 230 sessions with their connector and co-produced 148 social prescriptions, spanning six different categories: (1) Arts and culture (n = 62); (2) Physical activity (n = 37); (3) Time in nature (n = 16); (4) Career exploration (n = 13); (5) Practical skills (n = 11); and (6) Entertainment and leisure (n = 9). This work makes a novel contribution to the social prescribing literature. It offers a detailed account of our program development, implementation, and evaluation efforts and extends the limited evidence base on paediatric social prescribing.