6.I. Workshop: Social Prescribing: what has been learned in developing evidence, what challenges and solutions?

Abstract Social prescribing is seen as a mechanism for addressing the social determinants of health, preventing exacerbation of pre-existing diseases, reducing attendance in primary and emergency care and improving general population health and well-being. Social prescribing involves individuals being referred/self-referring to non-medical interventions run by a third-party organisation. Social prescribing has received widespread attention internationally; however, the evidence base to support social prescribing lacks rigour, and gaps remain. The complexity of social prescribing, in that it involves multiple referral routes, partners, pathways and outcomes, poses challenges for its evaluation and research. Researchers across Europe have developed different projects of research to address the challenges associated with evaluating social prescribing. Development of the evidence base for social prescribing is crucial in informing policy and public health systems to deliver effective interventions that contribute to individual, community and systemic outcomes. This workshop aims to share different approaches that have been taken across Europe to address issues in producing evidence base and share learning about the challenges and solutions that researchers have developed, specifically regarding research about implementation and evaluation of social prescribing. The workshop will be structured in a first part of presentations and the second part of open discussion with presenter...
Source: The European Journal of Public Health - Category: General Medicine Source Type: research