
Faculty Member
Kate Mulligan
- Email Address(es)
- kate.mulligan(at)utoronto.ca
- Website(s)
- Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing, LinkedIn, Twitter, Mastodon
- 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 also the Senior Director of the Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing.
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:
- 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
- Amanda Mongeon, University of Guelph
- Caitlin Muhl, Queen’s University
- Jianna Quickstad, DLSPH, University of Toronto
Masters Students
- Lavania Jeganathan, IHPME, 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.
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 (accepted by Public Health Feb 2023).
Mulligan, K. 2022. Digital inclusion, online participation and health promotion: Promising practices from community-led participatory journalism. Global Health Promotion. Online First: https://doi.org/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