What matters to you? The rise and rise of social prescribing

Today is Social Prescribing Day. It’s a chance to showcase examples of great work taking place and people’s stories.

Now, many will have heard of social prescribing, been involved with it (some for many years, decades even!) or be working out the role they can play in it.

With a focus on reducing health inequalities, meeting people where they’re at and helping connect physical activity with health and wellbeing, there's a clear alignment with our Uniting the Movement strategy.   

But don’t worry if social prescribing still feels a bit of an enigma – it’s a complex landscape with many organisations involved, spanning different sectors.

Local approaches can also look slightly different from place to place, so...

What is it?

Social prescribing focuses on “what matters to you?” rather than “what’s the matter with you?"

We know that quite often social needs are at the heart of issues seen in primary care and that local community activities and services – as opposed to medication – can help.

This is where social prescribing comes in, often supporting people with more complex needs and focusing on what really matters to them.

It enables health and care practitioners, as well as other local agencies, to refer people (or sometimes people self-refer) to a national network of link workers, who get to know the individual, learn about their circumstances and help them access a service based on their individual needs and wishes.

The NHS aims to recruit 4,500 link workers by 2023 and it's this depth of support that differentiates social prescribing from the likes of brief advice or signposting.

Who's supported by social prescribing?

Some headlines from the National Academy of Social Prescribing's (NASP) Academic Partnership suggest:

• There are nearly twice as many women than men accessing social prescribing
• The highest proportion of people accessing it were retired or unemployed
• Individuals with long-term health conditions access social prescribing more than the general population.

While, in terms of people's social needs, the most common reasons for referral to social prescribing were:

• Symptoms related to anxiety and depression
• Exercise-related
• Issues relating to work or finances
• Being frequent attenders at primary or care services
• Isolation and loneliness
• Related to specific physical health complaints
• Struggling with life changes.

So what impact is social prescribing having?

The headline is that: social prescribing has an impact on a very wide range of outcomes, including decreases in loneliness and improvements in mental health and wellbeing, as well as social connections and in overall wellbeing.

Data shows there are strong levels of referral into local physical activity programmes, particularly so for the 65+ age group and for those living in the most deprived areas.

In terms of economic impact, there are emerging examples of reduced pressure/cost saving to primary care alongside a favourable Social Return on Investment (SROI).

How is the social prescribing agenda being supported?

There's a wealth of fantastic work taking place to connect people with a range of needs to local opportunities that help them to move more and connect with others.

It’s helping build strong relationships between public and voluntary sector partners – which of course includes many sport and physical activity opportunities.

Does this mean we have all the answers yet? No.

Is there a collective sense of commitment, ambition and opportunity for this work, with bundles of passion? Absolutely.

In fact, we’re learning a lot, such as how a common purpose is key to building trust across this complex system and the importance of ‘place’ being at the heart of this work.