When Healthcare Feels Like Home: What We Learned from Black-Focused Social Prescribing
Download the full Black-Focused Social Prescribing Program evaluation report to learn more about the methodology, detailed findings, and recommendations.
Imagine walking into a healthcare setting where you hear familiar languages, smell the spices of home-cooked meals, and see staff who understand your experiences without explanation. For many people in African, Caribbean and Black communities, this isn't typical, but it should be.
The Black-Focused Social Prescribing pilot (BFSP) spent 2.5 years exploring what happens when healthcare truly reflects the communities it serves. The results show us something powerful: when people feel seen and understood, healing happens in ways that go far beyond traditional medicine.
What makes healthcare "Black-focused"?
Social prescribing connects people to community resources—think cooking classes, support groups, or cultural activities—rather than just prescribing medication. The BFSP pilot took this further by grounding everything in African-centred principles.
Participants described their experience through all five senses:
Sounds like: Different languages, reggae music, drumming, and laughter
Smells like: Curry, Caribbean food, roasted breadfruit
Tastes like: Spicy, well-seasoned, flavourful cultural foods
Feels like: Community connections, belonging, and family
As one community health centre manager put it, "When you walk through the doors, and you see community that looks like you, reflective of your experiences, you already feel seen and heard in the space."
The impact was profound
Over 4,000 people attended cultural programs and community events during the pilot.
The outcomes were striking:
89% felt a stronger sense of belonging in their community
90% reported increased trust in service providers
87% said their health and wellbeing improved
80% faced food insecurity, with 68% accessing food programs through BFSP
Beyond individual healing
What surprised researchers was how the program transformed not just participants, but staff and organizations too. Link Navigators (the dedicated staff connecting people to services) found themselves reflecting on their own cultural identity.
"BFSP really caused me to self-reflect," shared one Link Navigator. "I had to come to a place where I need to come as my authentic self, my authentic African self."
The program also strengthened community partnerships, with over 40 new relationships formed with Black-led organizations.
The challenges are real
Despite its success, BFSP faced significant hurdles. Limited funding created staffing pressures, while institutional resistance made it difficult to implement relationship-focused care in systems designed for quick patient turnover.
One Link Navigator captured the frustration: "The length of this project is too short to see any lasting results... why is this just a pilot project of two to three years?"
The way forward
The evaluation, led by LogicalOutcomes working closely with project projects, revealed that sustainable change requires moving beyond short-term grants to stable, long-term investment in culturally affirming care. It also means creating infrastructure that supports cultural ways of working while building networks where healthcare providers can learn from each other.
Food programs and community events were the most accessed services, highlighting urgent needs that extend beyond healthcare into housing, employment, and food security.
The question isn't whether culturally affirming care works—the evidence is clear. The question is whether our healthcare system is ready to embrace what communities have been telling us all along: that healing happens best when people feel truly seen, heard, and valued for who they are.
Download the full Black-Focused Social Prescribing Program evaluation report to learn more about the methodology, detailed findings, and recommendations.
