Social Prescribing: integrating GP and community assets for health
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Social Prescribing: integrating General Practitioners and community assets for health. An evaluation of the process, outcome and cost-utility of Social Prescribing in City and Hackney, London, UK.
IRAS ID
158178
Contact name
Marcello Bertotti
Contact email
Research summary
Social prescribing is an attempt to systematically build a health pathway that makes use of community organisations as assets for the delivery of health and well-being interventions where patients have the opportunity to express their health concerns to a coordinator and decide the type of activity in the community they want to be referred to. The project involves 18 GP surgeries in City and Hackney who will refer patients facing isolation, the elderly, and people with diabetes type 2 to a coordinator who will meet and assess patients' needs and jointly draw a plan involving the use of services delivered by community organisations within the borough.
This study will measure a range of outcomes (wellbeing, self efficacy, quality of life, social engagement, and satisfaction) through a cohort study which will compare patients who attended social prescribing versus patients with similar characteristics who were referred to standard care. Moreover, the study will also evaluate the process of social prescribing by collecting opinions and views from patients with varied degree of participation in activities on the ground (qualitative in-depth interviews), by collecting reflections from coordinators (focus groups) and via events with stakeholders to capture the learning from the development of social prescribing. Finally, a cost-utility analysis will be undertaken across the intervention and control areas. This study starts in June 2014 and will be completed in September 2015 (15 months period).
REC name
East Midlands - Leicester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/EM/1076
Date of REC Opinion
18 Jul 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion