Relationship between primary care and local community organisations
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding the relationship between primary care and local community organisations: a case study of 4 different social prescribing models
IRAS ID
273152
Contact name
Nadja van Ginneken
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Liverpool
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 29 days
Research summary
Negative social situations (e.g. money worries or loneliness) can contribute to people becoming ill and make it difficult for them to recover from or manage their illness. Social prescribing is a way for health professionals to help their patients improve their social situation by referring them to a link-worker to identify their needs and link them into appropriate local activities or support (usually provided by voluntary groups and organisations). Following a government recommendation in 2016, and most GP practices now have access to a social prescribing link worker, despite a lack of research into what makes social prescribing services effective and sustainable.
This research aims to identify some of the systems, activities and technology that can help GPs, link-workers and community organisations to work together provide opportunities for patients to be referred to and benefit from appropriate local activities.
We will interview GPs and link workers working within four differently-organised social prescribing services in the Liverpool city region. We will ask them how they communicate with local groups and organisations to enable referrals, what (if any) apps or websites they use to help them, what has worked well and not so well for them and their patients, and why they think this was so. Where possible, we will interview them again 3-6 months later, to see what has changed within that time. For context, we will also interview local health service managers who commission social prescribing services, to find out their views and priorities.
We will publish the findings in a peer-reviewed journal, present them at local and national events, and use them to inform further research.
REC name
N/A
REC reference
N/A