Social prescribing (SP) is defined by the National Academy of Social Prescribing (NASP) as ‘supporting people, via social prescribing link workers, to make community connections and discover new opportunities, building on individual strengths and preferences, to improve health and wellbeing.’ (NASP, 2020:7). In the UK, SP is an integral part of a wider NHS England personalised care agenda and one of six components of Universal Personalised Care (NHS England and NHS Improvement, 2019), which promotes an approach that priorities what matters to the person rather than ‘what is the matter with them’. This paradigm dovetails with SP by the way in which the person is supported through a wellbeing conversation to allow them to be central to the decision making process and feel comfortable to share their life experiences and challenges.
According to the GP contract (NHS England and British Medical Association, 2019), the SP link worker, the health and wellbeing coach and the care coordinator roles are essential in securing over 26 000 additional staff needed to support the existing workforce. Collectively, these three roles will support a personalised care approach and help individuals to make positive behaviour changes based on what is important to them.
For example, the SP link workers give people time and focus on what matters to them, using personalised care and support planning and health coaching approaches to help them gain more control over their lives and improve health and wellbeing through connecting people to local community groups and activities that promote health and wellbeing (such as the arts, sports or natural environment). A similar role is provided by health and wellbeing coaches who provide support for issues such as weight management, managing chronic pain, living with depression, and anxiety. In addition to these two roles, the care coordinator works within a primary care network to identify and work with the frail/elderly and those with long-term conditions to navigate care across health and care services. They work with GPs and practice teams acting as a central point of contact to ensure appropriate support is made available to individuals and their carers.
The NHS Long Term Plan aims to ensure that 2.5 million people are in receipt of personalised care by 2024 (NHS England and NHS Improvement, 2019). The Personalised Care Institute (PCI), which was launched in September 2020, is a virtual organisation convened by the Royal College of General Practitioners on behalf of NHS England and NHS Improvement. It will support the professional development of at least 75 000 clinicians in four evidence-based components of personalised care by 2023/24: shared decision making; personalised care and support planning; social prescribing and community-based support; and supported self-management.
SP and those involved in the referral can play a significant role in supporting the individual through personalised approaches. Roles, such as those described here, are integral to this and as such, would benefit from integration into the wider multidisciplinary team. Raising awareness of asset-based approaches that are used in a social prescription, and the referral processes involved, can help to creating new, and innovative multi-professional opportunities to collaborate for the benefit for the individual. Nurses working in a community context are in an ideal position to work with the different roles and help facilitate social prescriptions for a range of people and make ‘every contact count’.