These referrals are also made by nurses, counsellors, and healthcare professionals. And there’s ever-growing research that suggests social prescribing really does work.
But are there gaps that need addressing?
In short, yes, and it’s largely to do with funding and learning. But it’s better if we hand it over to The Kings Fund to explain more…
“Looking ahead, it will be important that national roll-out of social prescribing is done in a way that pays careful attention to learning. For example, further insight is needed into the impact of different models of link working, and how link workers can be effectively supported and embedded within a wider multidisciplinary team.
“There is an opportunity to improve the quality of evaluation and develop a more granular understanding of which approaches from within the range of models deliver value, for whom, and how. National NHS bodies, and the National Academy of Social Prescribing, will have a key role to play in this.
“Covid-19 has seen the voluntary and community sector’s income fall, while the need for the sector has increased.
“The policy support for social prescribing must be accompanied by adequate funding for those organisations, primarily local charities, receiving social referrals if it is to be sustainable in the long term.”
In essence, if we’re going to truly enhance the power of social prescribing we need plenty of feedback that is consistently evaluated. How quickly were you able to be referred? Did the chosen referral work for you? Was it easily accessible? Do you feel your needs were met? Was this a straightforward process? How can we improve?
Encouragingly, this way of thinking is being adopted in the Natural England Action Plan 2021 – 2022 – and of course green spaces are a large part of social prescribing activities. One of the shifts for 2021/22 includes “to be evidence and evaluation led”.
The plan explains further:
“The three shifts above [to visibly drive the Nature Recovery Network, to develop plans for places, to tackle barriers to nature] cover the ecological, economic and societal – and all need us to design changes that are scientifically coherent, legally sound and credible to the people who need them.
“We will design and embed evidence gathering and evaluation into our new approaches and learn from them, so we can be confident to try new things, take risks, discover and lead.”
It’s vital that the social prescribing model is less linear, in favour of a collaborative and connected approach. This data gathering will also help to decide where and why funding should go to certain groups. It’ll also offer more evidence to link workers that allows them to continue to make successful referrals.
Funding will always be a talking point. The evidence may suggest that certain special interest groups work for certain mental health conditions, but if they don’t exist in the local area, or are too poorly funded to accept more members, then social prescribing cannot reach its full potential.
