2022/05/01 by Daniel F Morse, Sahil Sandhu, Kate Mulligan +21 · 13 citations
Arts and Humanities · Health Professions · Psychology · #Art Therapy and Mental Health #Music Therapy and Health #Occupational Therapy Practice and Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2022-008524
openalex publication_date 2022/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Social prescribing is an approach that aims to improve health and well-being. It connects individuals to non-clinical services and supports that address social needs, such as those related to loneliness, housing instability and mental health. At the person level, social prescribing can give individuals the knowledge, skills, motivation and confidence to manage their own health and well-being. At the society level, it can facilitate greater collaboration across health, social, and community sectors to promote integrated care and move beyond the traditional biomedical model of health. While the term social prescribing was first popularised in the UK, this practice has become more prevalent and widely publicised internationally over the last decade. This paper aims to illuminate the ways social prescribing has been conceptualised and implemented across 17 countries in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. We draw from the 'Beyond the Building Blocks' framework to describe the essential inputs for adopting social prescribing into policy and practice, related to service delivery; social determinants and household production of health; workforce; leadership and governance; financing, community organisations and societal partnerships; health technology; and information, learning and accountability. Cross-cutting lessons can inform country and regional efforts to tailor social prescribing models to best support local needs.