Faculty Member
Kate Mulligan
- Email Address(es)
- kate.mulligan(at)utoronto.ca
- Website(s)
- Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing, LinkedIn, Twitter
- Division(s)/Institute(s)
- Social & Behavioural Health Sciences Division
- Position
- Assistant Professor
- SGS Status
- Associate Member
Research Interests
I am interested in the role of community-scale leadership and intervention in the production of health and wellbeing. I lead high-impact advocacy and research for healthier, more equitable and more sustainable policy and practice.
I am the Senior Director of the Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing and Senior Advisor to the Canadian Red Cross.
My interests include:
- Advocacy, media, community and government relations
- Health equity, healthy public policy and community wellbeing
- Community leadership, resilience and self-determination
- Community and public governance
- Social prescribing & determinants of health
- Political ecology & health geography
2023 headlines:
- Doctors are slammed with non-medical cases. Some say social prescribing could ease the burden. CBC News April 2023
- Loneliness as a Health Issue. The Academic Minute April 2023
- Loneliness is making us physically sick, but social prescribing can treat it. The Conversation Podcast February 2023
- How can socializing benefit my health? CBC The Dose January 2023
- We know social connection can make sick people feel better. Is it time to incorporate it into formal recovery plans? Toronto Star January 2023
Education & Training History
- PhD, Health Geography, McMaster University (2013)
- M.A., Adult Education and Community Development, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, the University of Toronto (2003)
- B Arts Sc., Arts & Science Programme, McMaster University (2001)
Other Affiliations
- Faculty Advisory Council, School of Cities, University of Toronto
- Special Graduate Faculty, School of Environmental Design & Rural Development, University of Guelph
- Mentor, Collaborative Program in Public Health Policy, University of Toronto
- Board Member, Toronto Board of Health (2018-2022)
Consultancies
- Canadian Red Cross
- National Collaborating Centre for the Determinants of Health
- Office of the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada
- Pan American Health Organization
Primary Teaching Responsibilities
- CHL7001H Social Prescribing in the City, School of Cities & DLSPH
- CHL4007H Public Health Advocacy
- CHL5110H Theory and Practice of Program Evaluation
- CHL5135H Ecological Public Health
- URB431Y1 Multidisciplinary Urban Capstone Project, School of Cities
- DLSPH Certificate in Health Impact
- Mentor, Collaborative Program in Public Health Policy
- Canadian Social Prescribing Student Collective
- Research and practicum supervision
Doctoral Students
- Le-Tien Bhaskar, McMaster University
- Tara Chen, University of Waterloo
- Jann Houston, OISE/University of Toronto
- Linda Manirambona, University of Ottawa
- Chinaedu Mbonu, University of Regina
- Amanda Mongeon, University of Guelph
- Caitlin Muhl, Queen’s University
- Jianna Quickstad, DLSPH, University of Toronto
Masters Students
Research:
- Lavania Jeganathan, IHPME, University of Toronto
- Andrea Wadman, Simon Fraser University
Practicum:
- Eleanor Cornish, MPH, University of Toronto
- Leo Zhou, MPH, University of Toronto
Representative Publications
Mulligan, K., Hsiung, S., Park, G., Bloch, G., Elliott, T., Stebbins, L., Richter, A. Social Prescribing in Canada: A Tool for Integrating Health and Social Care for Underserved Communities. Healthcare Quarterly 25(4) January 2023: 17-22. doi:10.12927/hcq.2023.27022.
Vine, M.M., Mulligan, K., Harris, R., Dean, J.L. (2023). The impact of health geography on public health research, policy, and practice. Special Issue: Health Geography’s Contribution to Environmental Health Research, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (accepted September 2023).
Welch V, Tanjong Ghogomu E, Dowling S, Choo WY, Yunus RM, Mohd TAMT, Haitas N, Bomze S, Dahrouge S, Garcia E, Holt-Lunstad J, Lasgaard M, Lim MH, Mulligan K, Salzwedel DM, Qualter P, Hébert PC, Mikton C. PROTOCOL: In-person interventions to reduce social isolation and loneliness: An evidence and gap map. Campbell Syst Rev. 2023 Jun 22;19(3):e1340. doi: 10.1002/cl2.1340. PMID: 37361556; PMCID: PMC10286723.
Welch, V. A., Ghogomu, E., Dowling, S., Barbeau, V., Al-Zubaidi, A., Beveridge, E., Bondok, M.,Desai, P., Doyle, R., Huang, J., Hussain, T., Jearvis, A. Jahel, F., Madani, L. Choo, Y.W., Yunus, R.M., Tengku, M.T.A.M, Wadwani, A., Al Ameer, A., Ibrahim, R., Allam, S., Haitas, N., Bomze, S., Dahrouge, S., Garcia, E., Holt-Lunstad J., Lasgaard, M., Lim, K. Mulligan, K., Salzwedel, D.M., Qualter, P., Hebert, P., Mikton, C. (2023, July 14). In-person interventions to reduce social isolation and loneliness: An evidence and gap map. (pre-print) https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1340
Esfandiari E, Chudyk AM, Grover S, Lau EY, Hoppmann C, Mortenson WB, Mulligan K, Newton C, Pauly T, Pitman B, Rush KL, Sakakibara BM, Symes B, Tsuei S, Petrella RJ, Ashe MC. Social Prescribing Outcomes for Trials (SPOT): Protocol for a modified Delphi study on core outcomes. PLoS One. 2023 May 16;18(5):e0285182. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285182. PMID: 37192189; PMCID: PMC10187912.
Muhl, C., Mulligan, K., Bayoumi, I., Ashcroft, R., Godfrey, C. (2023). Establishing Internationally Accepted Conceptual and Operational Definitions of Social Prescribing Through Expert Consensus: A Delphi Study. BMJ Open (accepted June 2023).
Muhl, C., Mulligan, K., Bayoumi, I., Ashcroft, R., Godfrey, C. (2023). Supporting the achievement of global goals for health and wellbeing through social prescribing: defining the concept. Population Medicine, 5(Supplement), A1846. https://doi.org/10.18332/popmed/165302
Muhl, C., Mulligan, K., Bayoumi, I., Ashcroft, R., & Godfrey, C. (2023). Establishing Internationally Accepted Conceptual and Operational Definitions of Social Prescribing Through Expert Consensus: A Delphi Study Protocol. International Journal of Integrated Care, 23(1), 3. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.6984
Ashe, M; Grover, S; Sandhu, P; Nijjar, GS; Percival, A; Chudyk, AM; Liang, J; McArthur, C; Miller, WC; Mortenson, WB; Mulligan, K; Newton, C: Park, G; Pitman, B; Rush, KL; Sakakibara, B; Petrella, J. (2023). Older Adults and Social Prescribing Experience, Outcomes, and Processes: A Meta-Aggregation Systematic Review. Public Health 218: 197-207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2023.02.016
Mulligan, K. 2022. Digital inclusion, online participation and health promotion: Promising practices from community-led participatory journalism. Global Health Promotion. 2022;0(0). doi:10.1177/17579759221126150
Madani, M.T., Madani, L., Ghogomu, E.T., Dahrouge, S., Hébert, P.C., Juando-Prats, C., Mulligan, K. & Welch, V. Is equity considered in systematic reviews of interventions for mitigating social isolation and loneliness in older adults?. BMC Public Health 22, 2241 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14667-8
Percival A, Newton C, Mulligan K, Petrella R, Ashe M. Systematic review of social prescribing and older adults: where to from here?
Morse, DF; Sandhu, S; Mulligan, K; Tierney, S; Polley, P; Chivas, B; Slade, S; Dias, S; Mahtani, K; Wells, L; Wang, H; Zhao, B; de Figueiredo, C; Meijs, JJ; Nam, HK; Lee, KH; Wallace, C; Elliott, M; Mendive, JM; Robinson, D; Palo, M; Herrman, W; Nielsen, RØ; Husk, K. (2022). Global Developments in Social Prescribing. BMJ Global Health 2022;7:e008524.
Mulligan K. 2022. Strengthening community connections: the future of public health is at the neighbourhood scale. Report to the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer (CPHO) at the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Using self-determination theory to understand the social prescribing process: a qualitative study.
Public Health Agency of Canada / Canadian Institutes for Health Research 2020. Best Brains Exchange proceedings report: Strengthening the structural determinants of health post-COVID-19.
Mulligan, K., Bhatti, S., Rayner, J., & Hsiung, S. 2019. Social Prescribing: Creating Pathways Towards Better Health and Wellness. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.16249
Rayner, J; Muldoon, L; Bayoumi, I; McMurchy, D; Mulligan, K; Tharao, W 2018. Delivering Primary Health Care as Envisioned – A Model of Health and Wellbeing Guiding Community-Governed Primary Care Organizations. Journal of Integrated Care. https://doi.org/10.1108/JICA-02-2018-0014