Social Prescribing Sauna

One part of what we do that I haven’t written about yet is social prescribing. This post is partly an explanation and partly a request, because we aim to provide at least 10% of our session capacity through social prescribing, and we need referrals to do it.

the icon of joy, the social prescribing platform we’ve set up on

Social prescribing is the NHS route for connecting people to non-medical support. A GP or other professional refers someone to a link worker, the link worker works out what might actually help (exercise, social groups, nature, volunteering), and connects them to it. It exists because a lot of GP appointments are driven by things medicine can’t fix. Loneliness, isolation, low-grade mental health, the general state of being run down by life.

At Baillie Gifford, I did a substantial healthcare project on the ‘social determinants of health’, these are the non-medical aspects of our life which have an extremely profound effect on our health. Even if small, it feels great to move from just reading and writing about this, to doing something positive with it!

Our sessions for referred adults are free, and referrals come through Joy, the platform many link workers already use, so the route is one they already know rather than something bespoke to us. Thanks very much to the British Sauna Society for the reccomendation here.

A sauna fits the referral categories link workers actually deal with. It’s a warm, low-pressure social setting where conversation happens naturally but isn’t required. It’s outdoors, in places people might not otherwise visit. The evidence on sauna use for cardiovascular health, sleep, and mood is strong, decades of Finnish cohort data with consistent results. And it has none of the barrier-to-entry problems of gym or exercise referrals. You sit in a warm room and it’s fun for a first-timer.

The other thing worth saying is what this isn’t. It isn’t a concession scheme. Nobody has to identify themselves as someone who needs help to take it up, because the route runs through the link worker, and the people in the sauna are just people in the sauna. To an extent there’s a dignity problem with most discount schemes is that you have to declare yourself eligible for them. Social prescribing removes that. The NHS does the routing and the person just gets a booking.

From July we’ll be running sessions at three sites: Mamhead (forest, near Exeter), the River Dart at Dartington, and the Marine Lake at Weston-super-Mare, with a fourth site at Wyre Forest near Kidderminster aiming for September. All take social prescribing referrals.

Coming on to the request. If you’re a link worker, work in a PCN, or know someone who does, anywhere near Exeter, Totnes, Weston-super-Mare, or (from autumn) Kidderminster: referrals come through Joy, or email us at hello@youcansauna.com and we’ll sort the route out directly.

Yussef