Community supports for health & wellbeing focus of new joint project NWC & HSE launch new project
Published: Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Marking Social Prescribing Day tomorrow, 26 March, the National Women’s Council (NWC) will launch a new project looking at existing Social Prescribing services. Supported by the HSE and the Department of Health, the study will explore why some women are less likely to access these HSE funded services.
Social Prescribing is a grassroots phenomenon aimed at connecting people with social and community-based projects which can improve health and wellbeing. Examples of services could include a woodlands exploration group for Traveller women, a life skills group for survivors of gender-based violence, or a walk and talk group.
Executive Director of NWC, Corrinne Hasson, said
“Social prescribing plays an important role in connecting women with their communities, particularly those who may be experiencing social isolation, loneliness, or navigating difficulties such as poverty, racism, gender-based violence, or returning to work after years of caring responsibilities. It offers meaningful opportunities to build relationships and access support. However, we know that some groups of women are more likely to access these supports than others. We want to understand why, and to ensure that women in all their diversity can benefit from social prescribing.”
Orla Walsh, Project Manager of the HSE’s Mental health and Wellbeing Programme, said:
“Social prescribing focuses on what matters to the person, rather than what is the matter with them. It has huge potential to improve women’s health and wellbeing. We are glad to partner with NWC to understand better how we can reach more women with these services, embedding equality considerations in the future expansion of social prescribing.”
NWC’s Social Prescribing Project Lead, Susan Harnett, said:
“The project will focus particularly on middle-aged women and women from underserved communities including Traveller women, Roma women, migrant women, women from ethnic minority groups, LGBTQ+ women, disabled women, survivors of gender-based violence, lone parents, and women living in rural areas. We hope to improve access to social prescribing services for women, with the broader goal of improving health and wellbeing outcomes for women.”
In 2023, 68% of the people using social prescribing services in Ireland were women and the most common reason for referral across all service users was social isolation and loneliness (60%). Women of all ages access social prescribing services but the highest levels of participation are among women aged over the age of 65 years (41%). The majority of participants were White Irish (84%) with less than 1% of participants identifying as Travellers. 20% of women reported having a disability and 4% were carers.