Defining social prescribing
and understanding the social
determinants of health
Module 1
Learning objectives
By the end of this module, participants should be able to know:
1 What is social prescribing?
2 Who is social prescribing
for?
How does social prescribing fit in the
3
Why social prescribing? How does it
address the social determinants of
health? 4 WHO Western Pacific Regional Action
Plan on Healthy Ageing?
Who are the link workers?
5 And why are they key to
social prescribing?
6 Who can fulfil the link worker
role?
How is social prescribing
7 supporting person-centered care?
8 What is new about link workers and
social prescribing?
Lesson 1:
What is social
prescribing?
The exact nature of “social prescriptions”, meaning the referrals of
patients to activities and services are specific to each community
and care setting.
Typically include
Community
mental health Social
services activities
Advice Arts & culture
Physical
activities
Link workers
Link workers
✓ Personalized plan co-design
✓ Follow up
✓ Monitor progress
✓ Existing staff
✓ Organization
✓ New position
Area of implementation
• United Kingdom
• Portugal
• Republic of Ireland
• Canada
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Singapore
• Japan
• China
This video is currently in
production. It will be
available in the first half of
2022. Thank you for your
patience.
Lesson 2:
Who is social
prescribing for?
Most likely to benefit
chronic
mental
health
health risk
conditions
social
vulnerability
isolation
This video is currently in
production. It will be
available in the first half of
2022. Thank you for your
patience.
Lesson 3:
Social prescribing’s underlying
principles: Addressing the social
determinants of health
Ref: Dahlgren and Whitehead (1991)
”The social determinants of health
(SDH) are the non-medical factors that
influence health outcomes. They are
the conditions in which people are
born, grow, work, live, and age, and
the wider set of forces and systems
shaping the conditions of daily life.”
The Social Determinants of Health
Now imagine the following situation…
Think about it
What are the health issues experienced by this older man?
Which one of these issues can be most directly addressed by
targeting the social determinants of health?
Which social determinants did the link worker target, and how?
Easing loneliness
Research has shown that loneliness potentially caused by social
exclusion can be an important factor influencing health (e.g. Landeiro
et al. 2017).
In this regard, one of the ways social prescribing can help addressing
this SDH is by offering support to attend a regular activity group (e.g.
an art class, or discussion group) to address social isolation and
loneliness in the patient. (e.g. Foster et al. 2020)
Equity in health
Social prescribing should not be used as a means
to divert patients from the health services they
need for cost saving purposes. It should keep
patients’ wellbeing as the central objective.
Lesson 4:
The Regional Action
Plan on Healthy Ageing
in the Western Pacific
The Regional Action Plan on Healthy Ageing in the Western
Pacific aims to support older people who are healthy, thriving
and contributing in society.
Model for community-based integrated
care for older adults
Lesson 5:
Who are the link
workers?
Link workers
• Good understanding of the
community
• Ability to connect patients with
resources
• Empower patients to manage
their own health and well-being
Relationships
Requirements
Understanding of community Experience with patients
Requirements
• New personnel
• Existing professionals
Lesson 6:
How is social
prescribing supporting
person-centred care?
Person-centered approach
• Informing patients
• Empowering patients’ decision making
• Developing personalized care plans
• Encouraging patients’ self-management
An ideal link worker
An ideal link worker
An ideal link worker
• Active help to access
community services
• Active support of
wellbeing plan
• Support to become
autonomous
This video is currently in production. It will
be available in the first half of 2022.
Thank you for your patience.
Additional references
• A toolkit on how to implement social prescribing. Manila: World Health Organization Regional Office for the
Western Pacific; 2021. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
• Social determinants of health. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/health-topics/social-
determinants-of-health#tab=tab_1
• Social prescribing and community-based support: summary guide. NHS England; 2020.
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/social-prescribing-and-community-based-support-summary-guide/
• Regional action plan on healthy ageing in the Western Pacific. Manila: World Health Organization Regional
Office for the Western Pacific; 2020. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789290619352
• Landeiro F, Barrows P, Nuttall Musson E, et al. Reducing social isolation and loneliness in older people: a
systematic review protocol. BMJ Open, 2017
• Foster A, Thompson J, Holding E, et al. Impact of social prescribing to address loneliness: A mixed methods
evaluation of a national social prescribing programme. Health Soc Care Community, 2020
https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13200
