Public Perspectives of Social Prescribing

Khan, Koser and Ward, Fiona and Halliday, Emma and Holt, Vivien (2021) Public Perspectives of Social Prescribing. Journal of Public Health (United Kingdom). ISSN 1741-3842

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Abstract

Background: There is a strong national drive within the UK government and NHS for social prescribing. Previous research studies have mainly focused on service user perspectives and evaluating their experiences. There is limited evidence on how the general public perceive and understand what social prescribing is and how these views could influence service planning and delivery. This paper seeks to understand perceptions of social prescribing within the wider community. Methods: Semi-structured focus groups were conducted with 37 members of the public in four areas in north-west England. We explored public awareness and understanding of social prescribing. Results: Limited knowledge of the term social prescribing was found amongst participants as well as limited involvement in community discussions of the topic. Concerns were raised about the short-term nature of activities and the need for adequate resourcing to support continuity of service provision. The social prescribing link worker was considered to be important in supporting engagement with services and it was preferred this role was undertaken by people with local knowledge. Conclusions: The findings provide evidence of public perspectives on social prescribing and highlight how wider community perceptions can supplement service user feedback to support social prescribing service planning, commissioning and delivery.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Journal of Public Health (United Kingdom)
Additional Information:
This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Public Health following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Koser Khan, Fiona Ward, Emma Halliday, Vivien Holt, Public perspectives of social prescribing, Journal of Public Health, 2021;, fdab067, https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdab067 is available online at: [url]
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700
Subjects:
?? medicine(all) ??
ID Code:
152509
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
08 Mar 2021 16:55
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
16 Mar 2024 00:58