What is Social Prescribing

Social prescribing is important as it offers a non-clinical way for individuals to seek support and guidance in improving their mental health and wellbeing.  

Studies show that nearly 1 in 5 adults were likely to be experiencing some form of depression. 

As a result, the need for social prescribing within communities is continuing to grow and will be central to the NHS’ plan for primary care.

Social prescribing can help tackle issues such as loneliness, mental health, and social isolation and therefore promote a more holistic approach to managing healthcare. Through connecting individuals to numerous community activities and groups, social prescribing can improve the overall wellbeing for a community whilst helping reduce the demand for medical services, leading to more sustainable and effective healthcare systems in the future.

Social prescribing is continuing to develop more and more each year. Because of this the PRSB have been working hard to create social prescribing standards to be used nationally. This will enable the government, ICSs, social prescribing services, and other healthcare professionals to record social prescribing outcomes consistently across the board to help record and provide evidence for social prescribing so it can continue to grow further.

Equally, social prescribing is important as its model can be adapted into a variety of sectors including education and housing.

Here social prescribing in education can help provide students the support they need to overcome the pressures of moving to university and decrease drop-out rates. Similarly, social prescribing in housing can help individuals cope with the financial pressures of running a home, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis, to reduce the levels of homelessness across the UK.

Social prescribing is important therefore as it’s an approach and model that can be easily adapted to a variety of sectors which can help improve the health and wellbeing across all communities in a variety of different ways so no individual is left with their needs being unmet.

Now social prescribing has been embedded within the comprehensive care model, multiple frameworks and models for social prescribing are emerging across the country.

When putting social prescribing into practice there is no concrete method as each patient’s needs will differ as well as the services available due to where you are in the country.

When putting social prescribing into practice there is no concrete method. This is because every individual will have different needs and will have different services available to them depending on where they are in the country.

The NHS have recommended these 6 steps to ensure best practice.  

• Ensure the care is person-centred
• Build partnerships locally and nationally from the start to have contacts to signpost clients to
• Ensure there is equality by narrowing down inequalities and offer equal opportunities to all
• Ensure carers involved are understood and supported
• Get voluntary community and social enterprises involved to connect people back to the community 
• Ensure volunteers and social action are recognised as key enablers.  

Additionally, some of our customers at Access Elemental Social Prescribing have also highlighted their top dos and don’ts when implementing social prescribing in a community. To find out what their steps for best practice are from their perspective, download our social prescribing guide today.

Social prescribing journeys can differ slightly depending on the individual’s needs and which referral agent and referral handler is used. However Access Elemental Social Prescribing have the same 7 key stages:

• Referral – Here referrals are made by the nominated referral agent and these are then generated through our Access Elemental platform and sent across to the relevant hub.
• Assessment Arranged – At this stage the nominated referral handler will log onto our Access Elemental platform to locate and manage the referral to organise the first meeting with the individual.
• Baseline Metrics – At the first meeting with the individual, the nominated referral handler will take baseline scores, such as wellbeing scores, and explain these to the individual so they can start co-producing the individual’s social prescriptions.
• Social prescription – These are generated using the platform and our system then notifies the provider that a referral has been made to their service. All social prescriptions made are created according to the individual’s needs.
• Further Visits – Then follow up visits with the nominated referral agent will take place. During these visits further health and wellbeing scores will be taken and recorded to track the individual’s progress. At this point if extra support is needed it gets provided.
• Health risks reduced – The data collected from these follow up visits are then located on the platform for journeys to be tracked more efficiently.
• Outcome – This data is then easily compared to identify whether engagement and wellbeing is improving in an individual.

This video demonstrates ‘Richard’s’ journey as an example of an Access Elemental Social Prescribing journey in practice.

Self-referral pathways are another example of a social prescribing journey. Self-referrals allow individuals to refer themselves to local social prescribing programme and be connected to a local social prescribing link worker. There are many benefits to our self-referral functionality including:

• Providing a digital referral pathway for your patients/citizens
• Empowering individuals to take more control over their health
• Encouraging a culture of self-care and management
• Reducing admin time for referral agents and GPs
• Building a stronger community by connecting individuals to services and groups to the local community

The video (above/below) explains Lucy’s journey and how her health and wellbeing improved after she self-referred herself to a social prescribing link worker.

At Access Elemental Social Prescribing, our Population Plus module contains the self-refer functionality. This allows people like Lucy to be in better control of their health and wellbeing to help them now and in the future.

Social prescribing is a very diverse goal-orientated scheme which depends on the individual. Social prescribing services act as a bridge between medical and social sectors to promote a holistic approach to healthcare by acknowledging the significance of social factors discussed above.

• Support to improve physical health  e.g. exercise classes, walking groups, yoga

• Employability/volunteering/learning a new skill  e.g. cooking classes

• Tackling money/housing issues/benefits issues  e.g. budgeting classes

• Coping with a condition  e.g. support groups

• Improving emotional wellbeing e.g. through art therapy workshops, or other creative activities

• Green social prescribing e.g. gardening projects, nature walks